Marco Vs the Forces of Darkness
by ADdude
Summary: Prince Marco Diaz is sent to Earth to study his magic. With his new friend Star Butterfly he plans on mastering his magic and fighting the forces of darkness that are out for his wand. With new and old allies by their side they will fend the evils that come their way.
1. Chapter 1: Marco Comes to Earth

**Prince Marco Vs The Forces of Darkness**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Star vs the forces of evil.**

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Chapter 01: Marco Comes to Earth

The kingdom of Mewnie, a land of magic and wonders ruled by the noble royal Diaz Family.

Today was a special day for the kingdom. It was the heir's 14 birthday and as tradition stated it meant that would receive their family's magical wand. The family wand was an item of immense power and responsibility.

Rafael and Angie Diaz stood before their thrones dressed in their best royal clothing to honor the day. They both smiled brightly knowing what this day meant.

Angie smiled, her Sun shaped cheek marks seemed to glimmer with her pride. It was hard to believe that her child was growing up so fast, soon they'd be taking over the kingdom. It was a strange emotion for Angie, it felt like it was just yesterday when she held her baby for the first time. Part of her wanted to stop time and let them stay young forever but she knew she couldn't and shouldn't. She had the utmost faith that he would become a great ruler and lead their kingdom into another golden age.

They stood there before the nobles of the kingdom, some delegates from the neighboring kingdoms including the Lucitors and Pony Heads, and of course the Magical High Commission.

The doors to the grand hall opened up and Prince Marco Diaz dressed in his red royal jacket and black trousers walked towards them his blue cape flowed behind him.

Soon enough the prince found himself before his parents. Angie looked at the wand in her hand, one with a gold and a red handle and a shimmering sun-like crystal on top.

She looked at her son, he held his chest out trying to seem strong and confident but she could see his hand anxiously tapping at the side of his leg. It was a nervous tic of his, trying to be brave before all these people.

"Whoo! Go Prince!" The diamond headed commission member shouted his support only to be slapped by a fiery member of the commission.

"Marco…" Angie whispered, "You're going to be amazing, I just know it. You don't know how proud of you. It's not easy letting this go, it belonged to my mother but now it will belong to you."

Marco took a deep breath reaching out for the wand but stopping, hesitating at the notion of the great power and responsibility that came with the wand.

Angie looked at him, her hand found itself stroking his cheeks, her thumb running over his ruby like mark. The ruby marks on his cheeks were segmented in four smaller gems, some of the kingdoms feared that it was a sign of misfortune but Angie could never believe that looking at her son. Especially since they said also said that about his mole, she shrugged off their paranoia.

"Mom, stop it, you're embarrassing me," Marco whispered.

Angie pulled away and sighed, she offered him the wand again, "Sorry." Angie said with a meek smile. "Now honey, it's time for you to take the wand."

"Right." Marco sighed taking the wand into his hand.

The wand was covered in white light changing its form. The wand now had a sword-like shape, it looked like a sword resting in a crimson and gold scabbard, the long scabbard stood for the wands handle, the bell of the wand sat on the top as the false sword's pommel.

The gem in the bell was now shaped like a proper diamond. The gem glowed brightly for a moment.

Marco stared at the wand in awe, his wand. He turned around and held out the wand for the others to see.

Those present applauded politely.

"WHOOO! YEAH!"

Again, a certain commission member yelled and was scolded by his compatriots.

Rafael stood by his son, "Mijo, it's time to show them what you can do."

"Right," Angie confirmed, "it's time to show the kingdom a sample of your power. What will be your first spell?"

Marco knew about his family's tradition, that they do one spell once they got the wand. It would be to display of their power and what kind of ruler they hoped to be.

Some of his ancestors had done all sort of amazing things. One of them cleared a storm and turned it into a sunny day. One created amazing fireworks display to bring joy to the citizens. One used a spell to make a bountiful harvest for all to enjoy. One had made wondrous music with her wand, whose melody was still spoken about today. One of them used it to cut a swath through the invading army and avenge her fallen mother.

Marco had made a huge list of spells to be his first spell but now with the wand in his hand, he didn't know anymore.

Finally, a spell came to mind, "A shield, a shield to protect the kingdom."

Marco walked to a nearby window and held the wand up.

"Crystal Shield!" A beam of light streamed out the wand and into the sky above.

Above the kingdom the energy spread out turning into a massive shield, it glimmered as it caught the light like it was made of a million large diamonds.

Marco whispered, "I'm doing it, I'm doing it!"

The beam of energy then floundered, a moment later the shield began to fall apart sending large crystal towards the ground where they shattered sending shards everywhere.

Even from the castle, they could hear people yelling in panic.

"I can fix this! I can fix this!" Marco yelled out.

He couldn't fix it; his mom having to step in to stop the gem rain fall.

0000

Marco later found himself standing before his parents, "Please don't send me to the Prince Reform school!"

"Marco, we're not sending you to the reform school." Angie told him softly, "But we think it might be best for you to go to another dimension to study your magic."

"Yes, we are sending you to Earth." Rafael told him.

Meanwhile, a nearby hiding frog-like monster thought to himself, "Earth?"

0000

At the Echo Creek Academy, Principal Skeeves looked at the royals before him.

"Your Majesties, though it is an honor to have you consider our school for your son, I'm afraid we cannot take any more students at this time. The semester is well underway."

Skeeves was surprised when royals came to his school claiming to be from another dimension and talking about magic, though since they had a carriage pulled by never seen before chimeras at the front of the school he was willing to believe a little.

Rafael snapped his fingers and one their attendants who quickly brought over and opened a chest filled with gold and jewels.

"Welcome aboard!" Skeeves changed his mind instantly as his attention diverted towards the treasure chest.

He looked over to Marco who was now wearing black jeans, simple sneakers, a gray shirt and a red hoodie. He was playing with a light switch, "What dark sorcery is this? Didn't you say there was no magic here?"

"Uh, that's a light switch," Skeeves told him flatly.

"Oh, don't worry," Angie assured him. "Our son is a kind boy, a little shy at times and overly cautious, we're hoping that coming here will open him up to new experiences and let him willing to take some risks while avoiding unnecessary problems. I assure you he won't cause any trouble."

"Hmm, I think I know someone that can help." Skeeves smiled and looked at Marco briefly, "Marco, right? Are those things on your cheeks some birthmark or something of the sort?"

"Yes, Sir. Why do you ask?" Marco asked.

Skeeves smiled a bit, he couldn't remember the last time one of the students called him sir. He furrowed his brow shortly after, though.

"Well, being a transfer student in the middle of the semester, you're already going to stick out." Principal Skeeves takes a moment to look at Rafael and Angie "Given these unusual circumstances, those will only draw more attention towards him. Now, I'm sure this is nothing to worry about! Echo Creek Academy IS a bullying free environment, but I think that for what it's worth, warning about this beforehand is important."

"Uh…" Marco scratched his birthmarks, now incredibly self-conscious of them.

"Don't worry." Angie pulled out a small compact from her purse and quickly got to work. It was a bit of magic make up that blended perfectly with his skin tone and it didn't even show that he had make-up.

"Okay, if you need more, just let me know." Angie smiled at her son. "Have some fun, make friends, and try to relax. Just get to know the people here and blend in, I'm sure you will learn a lot here. Later on, when you're more acquainted with Earth and your new friends, we'll call you regarding your training."

"Okay mom, I'll try. Thanks."

0000

The intercom blared, "Star Butterfly please come to the principal's office."

"What?! I didn't anything!" Star Butterfly sat at her desk annoyed by the announcement. "I didn't even get a chance to do anything."

The young blond girl had a red devil horn head hand on, one which she started to fiddle with annoyed. She wore a pair of purple horned boots, purple and red stripped stockings and a blue dress with a cute squid on it.

"Are you sure, what about that thing?" Janna asked. She wore her usual outfit and her trademark beanie.

"Ugh," Miss Skullnick groaned, "Don't!" She tried to stop the troublemakers. "Just go and see what they want."

0000

Moments later she found standing before the principal and some kid in red.

"Star Butterfly, please let me introduce you to our new foreign exchange student, Marco Diaz."

"It's a pleasure to meet you." Marco gave her a half bow.

"Oookay," Star let her words stretch out. It was an odd gesture but she tried not to make much of it. People from other places had different customs and she wasn't one to make fun of people for being different.

"Good, you will show him around. I figured it would be best for him to have you as a guide as your household will foster him."

Star gasped with excitement and started hopping. "My family got another exchanged student!" Star spoke with utmost glee.

"Now excuse me, the ice cream shop is calling to me. Fifty-two flavours, here I come!" Skeeves walked away with a his gem-filled chest.

Skeeves hoped that Star's more wild personality would help open Marco up like his parents had hoped. He also hoped that Marco's own personality might calm down the girl. Star wasn't a bad girl, she just could cause trouble from time to time to time to time…

Star grabbed Marco's hand quickly giving him an enthusiastic shake, "I'm Star Butterfly. It's great to meet you. I hope we become great friends!"

"Uh, ah, yes," Marco mumbled, "I hope so too."

"Yeah, I mean we're gonna be room-mates so we're gonna have to get along."

"Roommates!" Marco shouted, his face turning red at the thought of sharing a room with a girl, one he just met to make things even more awkward.

"Well, you'll have your own room but its next to mine."

They walked down the halls as Star told him where everything was and how things worked.

Marco didn't talk much about himself, trying to do as his mother told him: to blend in and to not say anything about being a prince from another dimension. It might be a big shock to a people who had no knowledge of magic and he could certainly get along better if he didn't stand out. He wanted to learn more about everyone and he was certain such an experience would help him in the long run.

He certainly didn't mention the magic wand he had on a loop on his belt, one barely hidden by his hoodie.

After school, they arrived at Star's home, to which she gestured at. "We will get you a key later." She opened up the door and yelled, "Mom! Dad! I'm home! And the new exchange student is with me!"

Soon enough her parents met her.

"Star." Moon greeted her daughter.

"Welcome home, Star. How was your day at school?" River smiled at her.

"Pretty great!" Star said giddy, "Mom, dad. Meet our new exchange student." Star quickly pointed at Marco.

"Yes, his parents arrived earlier and talked to us about it." Moon told her, before turning to the teenaged boy. "Hello, young man. Welcome to our home, please tell us if you need anything to feel comfortable." She greeted the boy.

"Thank you, Mrs. Butterfly" Marco gave her a bow, "Thank you for opening your home to me, it's nice to meet you both."

"It's nice to meet you too, Prince Marco." River greeted the boy.

"Prince?!" Star yelled, "Wait, are you telling me you're a prince?!"

"Uh, well… Yes, I am." Marco gulped. "My full title is Prince Marco Ubaldo Diaz, first prince of the Kingdom of Mewnie."

"Why didn't you tell me earlier?!" Star took hold of the boy.

"My parents and the principal said not to tell anyone."

", Seems he's from another dimension, too." River added, "I thought they were joking at first but those fantastical creatures they had pulling their carriage had proved it as did the portal they opened with those scissors as they left."

"Huh?!" Star continued to shake Marco until his wand fell out his pocket. "What's that?"

She bent down to pick it up. Marco, who had been a little dizzy, focused on it. "Don't touch it!"

Too late, as Star picked it up and it glowed bright changing its form. Suddenly it was pink, with a star-shaped gem and a pair of white wings. "Huh?"

"Please, give it back!" Marco said, panicking a little.

Star had briefly considered teasing him about keeping it but after seeing his worried face she didn't have the heart for it. She quickly handed it back, apologizing. "Sorry, here you go."

The wand changed back in his hands. "I'm sorry, it's just that this is my family's most prized heirloom. I've been tasked with protecting it and I don't want to mess up."

Marco clung to the wand.

"Worry not," Moon told him kindly, "I believe you will do just fine. From what your parents have told us, you should be alright." She gently patted his cheek, finding a red mark on his cheek. She gently rubbed it, trying to get the smudge off, only to reveal it more. She looked at her hand finding makeup which started to perfectly blend with her skin.

Star looked at his now clean cheeks moving right into his face, "Is that a face tattoo?"

"Oh," Marco shrunk at the extra attention. "It's my cheek marks, everyone in my family has them, sort of like birthmarks. I put some makeup to hide them, since the principal told me I'd stand out with them."

"That is soo cool!" Star's eyes twinkled at the marks. "They are like little gems on your face! I wish I had cheek marks like that! No, wait! I want something else, I don't know, maybe little bunnies, or stars, or I don't know… hearts, maybe!"

"I think one of my cousins has hearts."

Star chuckled, "Alright, but if we're gonna be good friends, let's make a deal: no more secrets between us, Ok?" Star held out her hand towards the young prince.

"…Friends?" Marco looked surprised for a second, before giving her a weak smile. "Sure, no more secrets." He replied, shaking her hand in agreement.

"Okay, so is that cute little mole real?"

0000

Marco ended up talking to Star and her family for a while, mostly them asking Marco questions about himself and Mewnie, trying to get know him. It was a bit hard for Marco to open up, but slowly he started to talk more about himself as he got comfortable with them. The Butterflys were just so nice and welcoming. Star and her dad were warm and energetic while Moon was a bit reserved, but she was equally kind and a good listener.

Eventually, Star suggested that she'd show Marco around town so that if he had to, he could get around by himself. Her parents approved of the ideas, just telling them to be home in time for dinner.

As it was getting dark already, Star decided to show Marco the cool stores and to focus on where to get good snacks.

"Okay, I love getting a slush drink here on a hot day," Star told Marco as passed a nearby convenience store as it started to get dark. "Just like chilling out in front, slurping it all up. But be super careful because it is SUPER cool! You can get killer brain freeze with those! Wait, do you have some magic cure for brain freeze?" Star asked excited.

"Uh, I don't think so." Marco sheepishly told her, "I'm not that good with magic anyway, that's why my parents sent me here. To try and learn magic away from everyone."

"Away from everyone?"

Marco was hesitant to talk about the incident or any of the things that lead up to it.

"I mean, you don't have to talk about it if you don't want to." Star shied away from her question when she saw Marco visibly uncomfortable, trying to pick up what made him tense.

"…I messed up," Marco started off, recalling his "no more secrecy" agreement with her, "When I tried to cast my first spell with the wand, I tried to make a magical shield over the kingdom." Marco rubbed his neck. "Something to keep it safe from invading monsters or any other threat."

"That sounds awesome. Like some sort of force field?"

"Yes, I suppose, but it didn't work out. It fell apart quickly and large crystals shards fell from the sky. Thankfully no one was hurt, but I did end up destroying a bunch of stuff from the kingdom."

"…" Star wanted to cheer him up, but couldn't think of anything to say. "Yeah… well, we all make mistakes." Star gave him a half smile.

"I know, but I shouldn't have let that happen. I'm the prince, I'm going to be the king of Mewnie, it's my job to protect my people, not endanger them!" Marco replied franticly.

Star placed a hand on his shoulder, "Listen, Marco. You made a mistake. A big one, sure, but it was just that: a mistake. I'm sure once you get some practice you'll be able to protect everyone." Star flashed him a bright million watts smile that assured Marco that it would be alright.

Marco smiled in response, Star delighted to have pulled out a smile from the introverted prince.

That moment quickly came to an end as several monsters ambushed them, sprouting from every dark corner around them.

"What?! What is going on here?!" Star looked around warily. Although Marco mentioned monsters back in Mewni, she hadn't expected them here.

"What's happening here?" Marco pulled his wand from his belt and held it out .

A tiny bird-like monster hopped off a bat, "Surprise, Prince Marco! I bet you didn't expect me to find you on Earth."

"No, I didn't." Marco admitted, "Who are you?"

"Exactly, Buff Frog told me- Wait, what?" His little bird beak dropped, "You- you really don't know who I am?"

"I'm sorry I don't."

"I am Ludo, the most dangerous and clever monster of them all!" Ludo cackled, raising his arms in the air.

"Sorry, don't recall your name. I think Rhombulus would have warned me about you if you were dangerous."

"Are you really dangerous?" Star tilted her head, "I think I could probably punt you like a football."

"YES! I AM!" Ludo started a tantrum, "I'm very dangerous! I'm king of the monsters! Well, actually a prince."

"Prince?" Marco took noticed of that word. "I thought I knew about all the princess and princes of the neighbouring dimensions and kingdoms. The only royal family related to monsters are…" Marco trailed off, trying to recall his studies of Mewni's relationships.

"The House Avarius…?" Ludo said dejectedly.

"…Of House Avarious?" Marco squinted, "But our families haven't fought in generations, not since the accords. Wait, I know your name!"

"Finally! There we go, now you remember me!"

"Aren't you like the tenth in line to the throne or something?" Marco asked dubiously.

Ludo clenched his fist, "Well, I'm in charge now! The castle is mine, this cool staff is mine!" He held his family staff shaking it at the pair, "I've got this army and I'm going to have your wand!"

At this, Marco held his wand tightly, unwilling to let it go.

"Get the wand!" Ludo ordered.

The monsters quickly descended onto them.

Marco panicked, he wanted to protect Star and without thinking he acted.

Marco quickly got in front of Star as he wielded his wand. Words popped into his head, "Crystal Blast!"

Gem shards fired out striking the incoming monsters, striking them all down.

Marco looked at his wand briefly and smiled. "This worked out better than I expected."

Another monster jumped at him. With a quick reaction time, Marco pointed his wand at the airborne target. "Crystallization!"

The monster quickly found themselves trapped in a crystal, falling down without any resistance.

"Cool! A fight! Don't count me out!" Star rushed at a bear-like monster, ducking underneath its paw and punching it in the gut, then delivering an uppercut knocking him out.

Marco gazed at Star, surprised by what he just witnessed. "Where did you learn to fight like that?" Marco couldn't help but ask.

"My dad showed me a few moves. Plus a lot of TV wrestling." Star smiled briefly before shouting. "Watch out! Behind you!"

A two-headed monster tried to get Marco while his guard was down, but Marco reacted by delivering a spin kick to one of its heads, making them collide and knocking the monster out.

"And you?" Star moved toward so they were back to back.

"Oh, well, I sort of have a combat teacher. His name is Rhombulus. I probably should introduce you two. I think you two would get along."

They started to kick and punch every monster that got near them. Really laying the smack down on them.

"JUST RUSH THEM!" Ludo yelled at them. "Attack them all at once! Why are you all fighting them one on one?!"

The monsters surrounded the pair and moved to attack.

Marco clutched his wand. "Okay, let me try something. I gotta warn you I've never tried this. Modified shield Mark two!"

Quickly a crystal shield formed around them, the monsters tried to attack it but failed to get through. Then the shield started to shake, the diamond like structure started to split apart until it exploded outwards.

Crystal shards exploded outwards hitting the monsters and embedding on them and the nearby buildings.

From the ground, Ludo groaned, "Okay, I've had enough." He pulled out some scissors and quickly used it to form a portal. "Everyone let's get out here and regroup."

Ludo yelped as he pulled out a shard from his butt. The monsters groaned as they filed fled through the portal.

Ludo groaned in defeat. "This isn't over! That wand will be mine!" Ludo stepped into the portal as it nearly closed on him. "Ack!" He forced his head through the closing portal but his skull helmet plopped onto the ground.

"Cool!" Star picked up one of the crystal shards. "I'm keeping this. Those spells were so cool and pretty! Though the last one needs a new name."

"Yeah, it's new." Marco looked downcast while tapping his leg. "I'm so sorry."

"Sorry for what?"

"I put you in danger. The monsters only attacked us because of me.Those spells could have backfired easily and hurt us! I put you in danger and I'm sorry about it."

"It's not your fault, you didn't bring the monsters here to fight us."

"I know, but I still should leave. I can't put you in any more danger."

Star raised her voice and slammed her feet on the ground. "Marco! No! We're friends now! If you get in trouble or in danger then you should have someone to help you."

Marco raised his voice as well, a stern face meeting her adamant attitude. "It will be dangerous, I can't protect you all the time!"

"Marco, I don't need to be protected all the time. I can handle myself, as you saw it yourself." Star smiled with some swagger. "We make a pretty good team, and that was super fun. Don't tell me you didn't have fun."

Marco mulled it over a bit before replying. "Well, yeah, it was pretty fun." He smiled ever so slightly as it dawned on him the thrill that it was battling all those monsters. He also realized how much he enjoyed it.

"Come on, Marco, you can stay. We can fight monsters together if they decide to mess with us!" Star pepped up a bit, but frowned when Marco's unchanging serious expression remained. "Don't tell me my new friend already wants to leave."

Marco made an expression that Star couldn't read, "… Are we really friends?"

"Well, I don't know what you would call someone who you fight monsters with but I'd call them friends."

Marco's face softened into a worried expression.

"I just don't want to get you hurt."

"Marco, I'm sure I won't get hurt. I'm a lot tougher than I look. Besides, if monsters come by looking for you won't you have a better chance having me to fight with?"

"…I guess." Marco gave her a half smile.

Star smiled brightly, "Come on, I'm sure nothing can stop us if we work together. Let's head back home, dinner should be ready soon."

Star took him by his hand dragging him home.

Marco didn't have many friends and it meant so much to him that someone seemed to really want to be his friend. Silently he promised he'd make sure he wouldn't let his new friend get hurt because of him.

"Okay, so tell me about this teacher. This Rhombus guy?"

The stars above the twinkled as Marco talked to his new friend about his life and those he knew.

They walked home and the start of something new and grand.

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 **Author's Notes: Hiya! Sooooo, I'm doing an AU. I'm not giving up on my other SVTFOE story just that me and my beta really want to do a good job on that one and we polish it like crazy. This is just something I wanted to write for fun, something simple. Someone gave me the idea for an AU and that sounded fun. I got a couple of ideas but if you got any please let me know. Next chapter will deal with the events of party with pony head. Overall some things will changed, some will be rearranged and some events won't happen. Like the football game episode, I figure Marco would have asked more questions and realized it was a game and not set up traps on the field or at least warned the possums so they didn't set them off and then be told.**

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 **Beta Notes: Hello, I'm Luni0n (A.K.A. V0ID115), ADdude's new beta reader and editor. It's not only an immense honor to work with him, but also a great experience for me, as I can practice for my own stories as well. I hope that our work is an enjoyable experience for you guys.**


	2. Chapter 2: Party With Pony Head

**Prince Marco Vs The Forces of Darkness**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Star vs the forces of evil.**

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Chapter 02: Party with Pony Head

They had the house to themselves, Star's parents left for a date night and she was in the kitchen with Marco.

They were planning on having a movie night, Star had been renting movies for Marco so he could pick up on Earth culture. They were having some trouble.

Star had tried to show him a fantasy movie, hoping to ease him in, but that backfired. Marco kept pointing out details the movie got wrong, that Ents moved faster, Eagles are bigger, Trolls aren't all that brutish, elves aren't all blondes. They tried mystery next, but Marco hung to any plot hole. Star thought science fiction might just let him relax, but it seemed that while Marco's dimension was all about magic many dimensions still had technology way beyond Earth.

This time, Star picked up an old action movie, something with karate. Maybe a dumb action movie could get him to shut off his brain and relax.

They were both roaming the kitchen scanning the shelves. Star had planned to order a pizza, but she spent the last of her money earlier without thinking, so they were looking for something else to eat.

"You know, I could try and make us something." Marco offered.

"Really? I figured a prince would have people to cook for him."

"Well, yeah. Sometimes I'd want something to eat, so I just went go to the kitchen and ask the chef. I often went for a snack and the head chef was always nice to me. He eventually showed me how to make things."

"Cool! You sure you can make something with what we have?"

"Maybe…?" Marco scratched his head unsure. "I mean, all the dishes I know how to make are made with ingredients from Mewni. I'm not sure about Earth ingredients, but I can try."

"Oh, I got something." Star ran and pulled a book from a shelf nearby. "My mom keeps all these cookbooks here."

Star started to flip through the book. One of the things Star did love about her mom was that she was very thoughtful. A lot of these books were for food from other nations. Every once in a while, her mom would make food from the home of their exchange student so they wouldn't get homesick.

Star stopped as she found a page with a note about Mewni and Corn. Star had noticed Marco loved corn, something to do with corn being a big deal on Mewni. Despite tasting different from Earth corn, he still loved regular corn. It seemed her mom noticed it too, a lot of dishes with corn were marked as something Marco might like.

She quickly looked over the ingredients, doing a quick pantry check. They seemed to have everything needed.

Star handed over the book to Marco, "What do about this? Can you do it?"

Marco looked over the page. "Nachos? Well, seems easy enough to make."

"Then get to it, Cook King."

Marco chuckled.

"Ah, see, what I did there? Cook King? Like a king, like you're going to be, but its like cooking?"

"Yeah, I got it, Star." Marco went into the pantry pulling out a bag of corn chips.

The door knocked, to which Star shrugged in response. "I'll get it."

Star opened up the door leading to the dark backyard, but saw no one. She looked around doing another sweep and then spotted a floating head.

"Severed head!" Star let out without a single thought.

Marco quickly rushed to her side wielding a wooden spoon, later lowering his "weapon" as he recognized the glittery flying acquaintance.

"Pony Head?" Marco quirked an eyebrow, "What are you doing here on Earth?"

"Yeah, hello to you too, Marco. And here I thought you were the proper one."

"Oh, right, ah, sorry." Marco got back on his manners. "Star Butterfly, let me introduce you to Princess Pony Head. She's the heir to the Cloud Kingdom, one of the neighbouring kingdoms of Mewni. We've known each other since… since pretty much our whole lives."

"Oh!" Star cooed, excitement quickly making her get used to Pony Head. "So you are childhood friends."

The two royals glanced at one another, sharing an expression of mildly annoyance they both tried to hide from of Star.

"We are not exactly 'besties', but hey, what can I say?" Pony Head floated around Star. "Anyway, girl, who are you?"  
Star raised an eyebrow "Huh? I'm Star, Marco just said my name."

"No, No, I got that, I meant what type of girl would actually date Marco."

"Date?! No, I'm Marco's friend."

"Oh, okay, yeah, that makes a whole lot more sense. You're way too pretty for him."

"Oh, thanks." Star smiled at the compliment.

Marco sighed at the back handed insult, "Pony Head what are you doing here?" Marco said as diplomatic as he could, although still slightly irked. "I don't mean to be rude but I wouldn't expect you to have any reason to come to Earth."

"Ugh," Pony Head's expression soured, "It's always business with you. Yes, there is a reason. Remember that agreement?"

Marco looked at her, "Yes, I do remember. You want to…"

"Yes."

"Uh, what's this about?" Star looked at both of them unsure.

Pony Head let out a long, tired sigh. "A date."

"Between you two? Wait, you thought I was trying to steal your boyfriend?!" Star waved her hands before her. "Because I would never-"

"No!" Marco stopped her, "There are some complications but it comes down to- our parents. When we were really young they kind-"

"Ugh" Pony Head groaned. "Our parents wanted us to get together."

"Yeah." Marco dejectedly concluded.

"You two…" Star shifted her finger between them.

"It would solve… a lot of issues." Marco admitted, "My dad and her dad knew each other as kids. Our families had a good relationship for generations so if we were to get together, our kingdoms would be united and it would make them stronger."

"But that's not going to happen!" Pony Head yelled, "I could do so much better!" She looked at Marco, "….I'm sure you'll do fine… some point down the line… probably."

Marco grit his teeth, "But our parents still want us to get together every once in a while."

"They're hoping you two fall for each other." Star wagered.

Both royals broke out into an uproar of laughter for a solid minute.

"Oh, no." Marco finally manages, "Yeah, we all know that's not going to happen. It's mostly just because they think we will at least be a good influence for each other." At the last part Marco crossed his arm.

"Yeah, so every once in a while, we have to go on these 'dates' and just hang out for a while." Pony Head explained, "But if we're going to do this we have to do this right." Pony Head spat out a pair of scissors with a red heart shape handle. "Let's at least head out to Bounce Lounge."

"Is that a pair of dimensional scissors?" Marco questioned the sticky pair of metal.  
"Where did you get a pair?"

"Oh, you know, a gift from my daddy." Pony Head said innocently. She paused and looked at Star, "Let's take your new friend too, she oddly enough seems cool. Like, 'why is she hanging out with you' cool."

Marco took a deep breath. He always found hard to deal with all of her back-handed insults.

Pony Head picked the scissors with her tongue and used them to create a swirling purple portal.

"What's that?!" Star hopped excitedly.

"A portal to another dimension." Marco explained, "Pony Head, I can't go, I'm supposed to stay on Earth while I study my magic."

Pony Head rolled her eyes, "Oh, right you're the 'Safe Prince'. Never does anything wrong, always makes sure everything's neat and in order, never breaks a rule and is all around a dull princess. Er, I mean Prince." The Pony Head lips curled up in a mocking fake smile.

"Come on please!" Star put her hands together begging Marco, "I've never gotten to go to another dimension."

With a heavy sigh Marco let his shoulders drop, "Fine, just for a little while."

They quickly left, Pony head leading, Star frolicking excited and Marco with a meek smile due to the irritation.

The backyard's newfound silence was broken shortly after, another portal opening up and two tall figures stepping out of it. One of them knelt, looking down at the sparkle dust left by Pony Head.

"Glitter. She was here." The raspy voice commented before they spread out and scanned the area.

0000

The neon lit room filled with bumping music the trio found themselves, Star was at a loss of words.

The beat was happening and the place was rocking.

Star's eyes were wide and sparkling, "This place is AWESOME!"

"Welcome to the Bounce Lounge!" Pony Head led Star to the dance floor, "This is my favorite place in all the universe."

The girls started dancing to the music, but later on Star realized something was off: Marco was missing. She spotted him at a nearby table looking over a menu trying to decide on a drink.

"Yeah, I don't think I'm old enough to get a Pan-Galactic Gargle Blaster." Marco said looking over the options on the menu.

"Marco!" Star ran over to the table yelling, trying to be heard over the loud rave music. "Marco! Come along and dance with us!"

Marco waved her off, "No, just go enjoy yourself. I'm not much for dancing."

Not hearing a thing, Star dragged him onto the dance floor.

Star resumed her dancing after hurling Marco into the crowd, Marco quickly being tossed between the various dancers.

"So, your name is Star?" Pony Head questioned her new friend.

"Yeah, and your name is Pony Head. Like your last name is Head?"

"Actually, my full name… well, just call me Pony Head, the whole thing is my last name. Your last name is Butterfly? I'm gonna call you B-fly."

"I would love that!"

"As well you should, I'm surprised Marco knows such a cool person." They had been talking for a while now and they instantly clicked. Pony Head couldn't think of the last time she connected with someone so fast.

They were having a blast, until Star realized he wasn't dancing next to them.

"Marco!" Star shouted. "Did we lose him?"

"Ah!" Suddenly he got hurled at them by a rather large dancer bumping him. Marco fell to the floor with a smack.

"There you are!"

"Yes." Marco got up and dusted himself off. "I'm here."

"You look annoyed," Star noticed, "Oh right, you guys haven't gotten to spent any time together. You're old friends, so you should get a chance to catch up."

Star nudged Marco and Pony head into a nearby photo booth. "Take some pictures and make some memories."

Star quickly left them alone.

The pair of royals looked at each other, "Why are you doing this?" Marco asked.

"Because Star is fun! I actually like her-"

"No!" Marco stopped her, "The last time we tried this we both agreed that would be the last time."

The Photo booth flash taking a picture of both of them making faces at the camera with words 'Best Night Ever' flashing onto the newly taken photo.

"Sorry if I wanted to visit an old friend."

"We're not really friends!"

They both paused as another picture was taken. They were hugging and smiling as the words BFF flashed.

"You are impossible!"

"I'm 'impossible'." Pony head scoffed, "That coming from the Prince of Mewni? You better watch yourself."

"I'm so done with you! You do nothing but insult me!"

"Fine! You want to settle this?"

"Yes!"

"Fine, duel! Winner gets to make one request the loser has to do."

"Fine!" Marco said assured, ready to use the reward so she would never bother him again.

"Let's go!" Pony head pulled out the scissors and created a portal in the booth they both used.

As the portal closed another open and two robotic figures stepped out.

The photo booth took another picture, 'Night to Remember'

0000

The Royal pair found themselves standing in an open field, their kingdoms in a distance and the Forest of Certain Death not that far away.

"You brought us here?" Marco questioned pulling out his wand.

"Yeah, I thought it … you know, poetic. We used to be friends, we played here when we were young. If we were putting a nail into that coffin then this seemed like the place to do it." Pony Head finished as her horn began to glow.

"3" Marco said, wand in hand and starting to glow.

"2" Pony Head added.

"1!" The pair yelled out together.

Beams of magical energy ripped out from both of them colliding mid-air. Energy crackled off the beams splattering around like burning plasma. The magic began to swirl and bubble together where their attacks met. Then with bang the bubble burst with a huge explosion sending them both back and clouding the field.

Pony Head was stunned as she looked around, "Oh, hey little princess, you dead?"  
A laser shot through the dust cloud around them that she barely dodged, "Guess not!"  
Pony Head fired a few random blasts as she ran to find cover. She barely dodged the attacks, annoyed that Marco was using the smoke for cover. Marco used her trail of sparkles to aim.

They weren't easy to spot but amidst in the smokescreen a few sparkles were enough to get an idea where she was.

The smoke was clearing away so she needed to think fast, once it was clear she'd be spotted in seconds. If Pony Head was anything she was bold. As the cover vanished she pointed her horn downward and fired.

Marco aimed his wand ready to attack Pony Head only to spot her high in the air aiming her horn.

As a burst of energy surged at him, he jumped to the side rolling to a stop barely dodging the attack.

Pony head cowered to the ground reading another attack.

"Okay!" Marco readied his wand. "Time to use my newest spell!" He held up his wand as the diamond began to glow a fiery red, "Fiery Drake!"

A huge stream of fire shot out striking the ground, a swirl of fire forming before them, between the flames a black shadow across the flames loomed of a massive creature with large sharp teeth and large feathery wings.

Pony Head stared in terror. "No, you couldn't have summoned an actual dragon! Your magic sucks!"

She moved back as the flames died down revealing….

"A lizard?"

Pony Head stared confused, as the flames died down there was a small red lizard with feathery wings. The reptile hissed and snapped at the air towards Pony Head.

"I kinda expected…something more." Pony Head truly disappointed. "You know with all those huge shadows. That little squirt could be taken out by my little sister."

The small creature spat out a few fiery sparks, then seemed to shy away at the Pony Head's mocking.

Marco bent down and picked up the lizard, "Don't listen to her, Tad Cooper. You're just young, you'll be a big dragon soon." Marco tapped him with his wand to get sucked back in with a flash of light.

"Tad Cooper!" Pony Head laughed, "You summoned a dragon and you name it Tad Cooper!"

"Don't make fun of my dragon!"

"You mean your gecko! Why did I think you could do anything right?"

Marco grit his teeth, "Shut up, Lilacia!"

"Oh! We're bring in my first name! Fine! Let's end this Princess Marco!"

Pony Head's horn began to glow brightly as she charged at him.

Marco furious raised his wand and blurted out the first spells that came to mind, "Swirling Tempest!"

The air was cut and began to swirl as a tornado began to form before them.

"Oh no! Oh no!" Pony head tried to get away as she was being pulled in, she struggled but soon was swallowed up.

"Ha!" Marco laughed at his victory, then stopping when he started getting sucked as well. "Wait! Stop!" Marco flailed trying to counter the spell but pulled back into the cyclone.

Soon as he tumbled into the wind he felt the sharp rip through his hoodie. They got tangled up together as they spun.

"You idiot!" Pony Head yelled against the wind, "Turn it off!"

"I don't know if I can!"

Marco decided to take another method and borrow the trick Pony Head herself used. Marco fired below them and shot themselves out and far into the air.

They started to fall quickly, "Come out cloudy!"

Before the spell his mother had shown him kicked in they hit tree branches, several tree branches before they both hit the hard ground.

They both groaned, they were bruised but not seriously hurt.

They both were about to turn their frustrations and anger at each other when one of the trees collapsed, revealing a giant Hydra stepped out and roared.

0000

Star had been grabbed by robot men, as soon as they did the music had stopped and the crowds emptied out.

"Err… Hi…?" Star said cautiously, staring at the two large frames holding her.

One of the robot guards wiped a finger on her shoulder wiping off some sparkles.  
Star blinked realizing those were the same sparkles that floated behind Pony head.

"You will tell us all you know."

0000

The royals ran for their lives.

"You shot us into the Forest of Certain Death!" Pony Head rushed out.

Marco fired magical blasts at the hydra. The magic struck the beast but it shrugged them off.

"Magic doesn't work on hydras!" Pony head yelled, "You're supposed to be smart! Shouldn't you should know that?"

"I do know that!" Marco barked, "I'm trying to come up with something that'll get us out of this!" Marco had a hard time focusing while something with so many mouths tried to eat them. "Magic doesn't work on them so I gotta affect something around it!"

"Use that tornado spell!"

"What?!" Marco yelled incredulous, narrowly dodging a bite.

"Can't get any worse than this, can it?"

"Urgh! I need a moment!"

"I'll get if for you. When I say so, close your eyes" She stopped and faced the monster, "Now!"

Marco closed his eyes as Pony Head's horn flashed a blinding light. Using the time gained, he fired the spell where the hydra was, "Swirling Tempest!"

A new tornado formed tearing apart the forest and picking up the multi-headed beast.  
Marco and Pony Head quickly jumped behind the trees and retreated, leaving the forest.

After a few moments, they arrived back in the field collapsing out of breath. They went quiet as they rested.

"What happened to us?" Marco finally let out. "We used to be friends, we used to be close, you were my first friend."

Pony Head looked up at the stars that started to show up, "Stuff happens, people change, our personalities don't really sync up… take a pick."

"Really?"

She sighed, "I guess it's not all …my parents always said they wanted me to act more like you. It got annoying to be compared to mister goody two shoes. With all my dad's talk about wanting a boy to be king… It just felt that maybe he wanted to trade me for you."

"Pony Head…."

"I know, my dad loves me, it's just that everyone expected a boy. When I got made the heir and got compared all the time to you, it became hard to be around you. It didn't help that he used to spend so much time with you."

"Pony Head, all those camping trips your dad took me to with my dad was to try and toughen me up. Some were fun but most of them I hated them. You know what our dads talked about? You! My dad asked what your dad did to get you to be so open and confident. Sure, your father wanted you to be less reckless, but both of them praised you for your passion and your dad just went on how much he loved you and your sisters. You know, I felt jealous how confident you are. I thought they wanted to have that princess by trading me for you." Marco gave out a tired laugh.

"I'm sorry I called you princess." Pony Head apologized, "I know how that gets to you. I mean, you did call me by my first name and you know how I hate it but that is my name."

"I'm sorry if I ever made you feel-"

"Don't-it's just there is a lot of baggage between us. You know what? I didn't even plan to hang out with you. I was just gonna try and trick you into doing a spell for me. Then I met B-fly and she was so cool. That girl has a spark to her!"

"Wait, a spell?"

"Yeah, I got into a bit of trouble and some people have been tracking me. I was hoping you could cloak me. I mean, I can't stay anywhere too long before they track me there."

"…Ah, you mean, they might track you down to where we left Star?"

"Open the portal!"

"Opening!"

0000

Marco and Pony Head arrived ready to fire at anything that dared hurt Star.

They paused when they found her sitting in a chair drinking a smoothie.

Next to her were broken robots some which looked torn apart and melted.

"What happened?" Marco looked around confused.

Star just smiled. "Where did you two run off to? These robot creeps started to manhandle me so I laid the smack on them."

"What about the molten parts?" Pony Head poked one of them.

"Oh, that." Star waved them off, "A red haired chick girl with horns and some SERIOUS fire power helped me out and beat them up. Honestly, I think she needed to vent. She said she was looking for something she lost, her scissors, I think. She thinks someone stole it while she was in the bathroom and was in a really bad mood. She was a bit intense, she punched right through one of them."

Marco narrowed his eyes for a second. "That sounds an awful lot like He-"

Pony Head coughed loudly, interrupting Marco. "Well, yeah, stuff happens. You gotta be careful with important stuff, ya know."

Before anything else could be said, another portal opened up and several more robotic guards rushed out. The trio quickly prepared to fight them off, but then a massive pony head floated out from behind them.

"Cup Cake. Prince Marco."

"Hello Daddy." Pony head greeted him sheepishly.

"King Pony Head." Marco bowed.

"What is happening?" Star asked confused.

"It's the end of the line." Pony Head admitted, "I'm going to St. O's."

Marco gasped, "Saint Olga's Reform School for Wayward Princesses?" He paused in terror recalling the horrors of the personality ripping establishment also the thunder and lightning that followed whenever someone spoke that name. "Pony Head, if you told me that I would have done the cloaking spell." He gave her a big hug.

"Thanks." Then she shoved Marco away and jumped towards Star for a hug. "I'm going to the slammer!"

"It's reform school not prison," King Pony head told her, "Though admittedly, it is very much like a prison."

Pony Head sniffled, "Well, at least I got to make one more awesome friend and have some fun."

Star hugged her, "Well, it was nice meeting you."

"Yeah," Pony Head slipped something into her pocket before pulling back.

The guards began to put the reins around her, "This isn't the last you'll see of me, no prison can hold me."

They dragged her into the portal.

The king paused and looked at Marco, "I'm just disappointed that those 'dates' never worked. You two never really rubbed off on each other."

"To be fair, King Pony Head, I think she is a great friend and she will make a great Queen. She might be rash, but that's not a terrible thing."

"That's very nice of you to say Marco but she nearly started a war with the Waterfolk last week."

"…Yeah, okay I don't know what to say."

King Pony Head sighed, "Kids you have them and then you wish they weren't around."

King Pony Head floated into the portal and it closed behind him.

"Wait!" Marco yelled out. "How are we supposed to get back to Earth?"

Star pulled out the scissors from her pocket, "Look at what Pony head slipped me."

"With these scissors, we can go anywhere."

"I know just where to go."

Star opened up a portal right back to the house to start their delayed movie night.

0000

Pony Head was taken to her bleak room. She was locked in and she stared out the window, avoiding to look at her gloomy new place.

Her mirror began to ring before Star and Marco appeared in it. "B-fly? Marco?"

"Hey, Pony Head!" Star cheered. "Marco let me use this magic mirror of his to call you!"

"Yeah," Marco scratched his head, "I figured since you both got along so well, you might want to stay in touch."

"Ah, that's actually pretty cool of you Marco." Pony Head smiled.

"That's the nicest thing you've said to me in like years."

"Well, don't get used to it." Pony Head said with her usual sass. "Now B-fly what's up? What is currently in?"

"Okay, so me and Marco…" Star began talking.

Marco started to walk away, he and Pony head had their baggage and had started to move past it. They were still very different people with clashing personalities. He didn't know if they could be friends like they used to be, but maybe they could get along. If they were to rule neighbouring kingdoms that would be helpful.

* * *

 **Author's Notes: To come later.**

* * *

 **Beta Notes: Okay. I messed up. ADdude sent me this chapter AGES ago, but not only did I get sick, but college sucked my soul out. Despite the straining effort I have to do to work on these with my busy schedule, it's been great working on this. From what I've seen from future chapters so far, things are bound to get interesting. V0ID115, out.**

* * *

 **Author's Notes (For Real): Okay, the education system will do that to you. Okay, We will get to work on the next chapter and lets see when we get that chapter out. I hope you guys enjoy this chapter and leave a review telling me what you think.**


	3. Chapter 3: Blood Moon Ball

**Prince Marco Vs The Forces of Darkness**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Star vs the forces of evil.**

* * *

Chapter 03: Blood Moon Ball

Marco was in class waiting for the lesson to start.

"Hmm… let's take a look." Janna's voice came from the seat behind him, "Just some cash, your school ID, some business cards from local restaurants. Not much to see here."

Marco turned around to find Janna looking through his new wallet.

"Hey! How did you even get that?" Marco searched his pocket but stopped as Janna tossed it back to him, barely catching it.

This wasn't the first time Janna took his things, since he moved in with Star the girl had a fixation on him.

"You don't seem mysterious, but Star won't tell me much about you and neither does your wallet. What are you trying to hide?"

"Uh…" Marco gulped, "Nothing," Marco inched away making sure his wand was still where he left it.

"Oh, you're cute when you try to lie. You're not all that good at it." She smirked in response. "Everyone has something to hide, and I _will_ find out what _you_ have, new kid."

They were interrupted by a noise coming from the hall, keeping the conversation from continuing.

Then the door burst open as flames shot out and a purple skinned three eyed demon stood there.

"Tom!" Marco yelled out.

"Marco!" the demon called out.

To everyone's surprise the introvert exchange student jumped up and gave the demon a hug, "Oh, it's been a while, Tom!"

"Oh, forgot your family is quite physical when it comes to showing affection." The demon awkwardly hugged him back, "I always forget you get hug-happy when you haven't seen someone in a while."

"Can you blame me? How long has it been?" Marco greeted excitedly his friend, but quickly realizing their location when Skullnick walked closer.

"Mister Diaz, care to explain your guest and-"

"Is he a demon?!" Janna yelled out.

"Uh… yeah." Marco replied unsure what to say now. He never wanted to stand out, but this would be hard to deal with.

"Why do you care?" Tom smirked.

"Uh, well, it's a little surprising." Skullnick admitted, looking incredibly confused, if not mildly scared by the whole thing.

"Why?" Tom repeated, "Marco's a magical prince, what's a demon compared to that?"

The whole class turned to Marco who was now frozen in shock.

"You're a magical prince?" Britney called out.

"I KNEW you were hiding something!" Janna jumped up from her seat.

"That is our cue!" Marco pushed Tom out. They walked out getting a few stares until they reached the parking lot where Tom's carriage with his undead horse waited.

"Is something wrong?" Tom asked, slightly worried by his friend's expression.

Marco let out a tired sigh, "No… it's just… I've been trying to keep hidden the fact that I'm a prince and about magic. Magic isn't really a thing here, so I've never mentioned any of that."

"Oh, man, I'm sorry. I didn't even consider-"

"Don't worry about it. I'll deal with it." Marco smiled at his friend, "It's good to see you, but what brought you here?"

"Oh, right, I wanted to invite you the Blood Moon Ball. It's my duty to host it and it's going to be so boring if I don't have anyone to talk to except all those kiss up demons."

"What? No date?"

Tom shook his head, "Dude, I'm hosting it. I don't have the time for a proper date and make sure everything is going right."

"I guess that makes sense." Marco nodded in agreement. "But you know I'm not great with this sort of stuff."

Tom gave him an understanding sigh, "Yeah, I figured as much, but I thought it wouldn't hurt to ask. When you have the time, call me. I miss hanging out."

"I will man."

"I'm free! I can go!"

Both boys turned around to find that Star had followed them out.

"Who is she?" Tom asked.

"Oh, she's my friend, Star Butterfly. Her family is hosting me while I'm here." Marco quickly explained.

"Yeah, and I love dancing! If you wouldn't mind having me, I'd love to keep you company." Star mildly blushed as she looked at the demon.

Tom looked at Marco, "Marco?"

Marco thought about it for a second, "Star is fun, I'm sure she will make any hosting duties a lot more bearable."

"Well, if you says so." Tom pulled out a small box from his pocket and turned to Star. "You should be someone fun to get to know." He handed the box to Star, "Use that to call me when you're ready and I'll have someone pick you up."

"Marco talk to you later." Tom started to climb into his chariot.

0000

Later that night Star was looking through her clothes looking for something to wear.

"I can't believe you never told me." Janna paced in her room, "Your exchange student is a magical prince! Star!"

"Sorry!" Star pulled out a dress and went behind a dividing curtain, "He asked me to keep a secret. I mean, you wouldn't want me to tell anyone your secrets, right?"

Janna sighed, "I guess not, but come on! You know how much I love all this magic stuff. Couldn't you try to convince him to let me in on the secret!"

"I'm sorry, and I should probably ask if your upset about me going to this demon dance, are you? I mean, that kinda sounds like your thing."

"Nah," Janna waved off her concerns, "I've got my eyes on something else."

Marco walked in carrying in the small box Tom gave them.

"Speak of the devil…" Janna mumbled.

At that moment Star stepped out wearing a fancy red dress, "How do I look?"

Marco stunned said, almost mumbling. "You look amazing."

"Thanks!" Star sparkled.

"Okay, here you go." Marco took out a small bell from the box. "Just ring this and your ride will show up."

Star took the bell in her hands. "Cool!" She chimed in response.

"Oh, just so you know, Tom is really nice, but he can get… a little stressed out, especially when a lot is put on his plate at once. Just try to keep him calm. Keep conversations light."

"Okay, Gotcha." Star rang the bell and an instant later, flames shot out from behind the window.

A demon carried an elevator, "Which floor?"

Star put the bell back in the box, "Ah, bottom floor?"

"Bottom Floor." Marco confirmed.

Star climbed down and waved at her friends as she started to descend.

"Have fun!" Marco waved back.

0000

Tom was fixing his bowtie, wearing his freshly pressed white suit. He was fussing about as the elevator was brought down. "Hey! Star Butterfly, right?"

"Yeah," Star blushed, "Thanks for having me."

"No problem, any friend of Marco is a friend of mine. It'll be nice to have someone to talk to."

0000

Marco was standing before his mirror, he put on his blue cape watching how it flowed behind him. "Nice…" he complimented his artifact.

"How is it flailing like that without any wind here? Magic?"

Marco looked behind his shoulder to find Janna looking at him. "Janna!" He jumped away from her in shock. "What are you doing here? I thought you left after Star left."

"Nope, just raided the pantry." She approached. "I've been meaning to ask, what's the deal with you? The whole magic thing."

She was close. While not face to face, still a lot closer than experience-less Marco was used to. "Ah, well, err… I meant no deception, I was just … just trying to keep a low profile."

" _Go to the Blood Moon Ball."_

"Is it the whole 'being a prince' thing?" Janna asked him. "Are you actually a prince?"

"Ah, yes."

" _Blood Moon tonight."_

Marco continued, furrowing his brows. "Yes, the Kingdom of Mewni,"

" _The moon of lovers."_

Marco fumbled with his ears, "Do you hear someone else talking?"

"No one besides you. Why?" Janna looked at him confused.

Marco looked around confused, now certain he was hearing seagulls too. "I'm sure I heard something..."

Marco walked over and pulled off a rather large book from the shelf and placed it on his desk. "Glossaryck, I think something is going on."

The book flipped open and a small blue man in a yellow robe floated out, He held his head, "Ugh, yeah, I hear it too. Some sort of mystic binding seems to be reacting to you. More precisely, your emotions are drawing this towards you thanks to your magic. I'm also hearing it because, well… I'm me." He snapped his fingers, "Well, let's stop that, it was getting annoying."

"Cool! Who is that?" Janna leaned over at the mystical figure.

Marco calmed down now that the voice was gone. Marco cleared his throat, "This is Sir Glossaryck of Terms, the keeper of my family's spellbook and the magic instructor to every ruler of Mewni since… ever."

"Give it to Marco to do a proper introduction. You can just call me Glossaryck." Glossaryck floated around Janna, "But who is this young lady?"

"This is Janna Ordonia, a friend I made at school."

Glossaryck floated around her rubbing his chin studying her, "Hm? Well, I must say this is very interesting. Seems a bit tomboyish, a gem in the rough if anything and doesn't seem too fond of acting regal, bit narrowed hipped could be a problem with heirs but she also looks sturdy and eager... I approve. You'll probably still need to get your mother's approval, though."

"Approve? Approve of what?" Janna stared down the little blue man.

"Oh, just of you and him…as the kids say: 'hooking up'."

"Hooking up?!" Marco spat out. "Glossaryck! What-"

The little man continued, "Mind you, I wouldn't think she'd be your type. I always had a feeling that you had a thing for girls with shapely legs."

"What? Why?" Marco yelled.

"Don't think no one has caught you staring at Princess Puri Puri Pearl's legs."

"Ack! I wasn't staring! She just happens to wear short skirts!" Marco blushed fiercely.

"And I am surprised how bold you are!" Glossaryck continued, "You already brought a girl back to your room. Well, I'll give you some time alone." He winked at him before slipping back into the book.

Marco only stared for a moment. Suddenly the little blue man popped out and placed a few lit candles on the tables and tossed around a few flower petals. He pulled out a bomb box playing some Barry White and placed it on the table.

"Take you time, Marco." He grasped Marco's hand. "I'll just get out of your hair."

He slipped back into the book, the book flew out of room into the hallway and the door slamming behind him. The lights all turned off as the door closed leaving only the candle light.

Marco looked in astonishment at the sudden development.

"Well, Marco," He found Janna sitting on his bed looking at him with a half-lidded stare smirking at him. "What do you want to do now?" She did a small kick to show off her legs.

Marco stared in utter shock.

0000

They walked pass a skeletal man chained up to a wall as a hooded man readied his spiked mace.

"Oh, I got you this." Tom handed her a horned spider.

Star trying to ignore them tried to focus on the spider, "Is it some sort of head thing?"

"Yeah,"

Star tried to ignore the sound of steel crunching bones, she fiddled with the spider before she realized it was alive, "…Thanks."

The moment Tom turned away she put the spider on the floor and let it scuttle away.

"So, how's Marco been holding up on Earth?" Tom asked.

"Oh, he's been doing fine."

"That's good to hear." Tom smiled hearing that. "I worry about him, even as a little kid he has always found hard to open up to people."

Star smiled finding it cute that Tom was so worried about his friend, "That's very sweet of you. But don't worry, I'm keeping my eyes on Marco." Star heard what she said and wanted to avoid any confusion like Pony Head initially had, "Ah, but just as friends. Besties, but really just friends, nothing romantic at all."

"Yeah, I know."

"You know?" Star smiled, was Tom thinking of this as a date? She knew he was hosting and probably wouldn't be able to spend all night with her but maybe they could have a dance and maybe some romance.

"Yeah, he'd have to ask his mom for permissions to date a girl and half of the dimension would hear about that."

"Oh, Marco's parents are pretty strict on dating, huh? Must be a royal thing."

"Oh, no, well… I mean there are lots of royals who want to make sure their kid's date the right people but the Diaz Royal family has a thing about Love. They don't care about status or politics, if politics get improved that is a bonus, but there aren't any arranged marriages. It's their family Motto, 'the Heart Leads the Way' it's supposed to help with their magic I think. It kinda made them all 'touchy feely'."

"Uh, so what's the deal with him needing to get permission to date a girl?"

"Well, it's a rule his mom set up, to make sure no one is trying to trick him."

"Is that really an issue?"

"Well, yeah, especially with Marco being a prince instea-" Tom paused as he looked at Star's confused face, "You don't know, do you?"

"Know what?"

"Look, if Marco hasn't told you then I shouldn't tell you. He's sensitive about this. I've already blurted out about him being a magic prince to everyone. I can't just blurt something like this out then."

Star was about to force the topic but had to pause she did the same thing with Janna, "Yeah, I gotcha…" she dejectedly replied.

Star and Marco had made a promise not to keep secrets from each other but it looked like he still had one. Star assumed he had to have a reason for it. It's not like they knew each other long enough to tell each other everything, too. She still wondered if Marco would really be the kind of guy to keep things from her.

0000

"Wow, Marco! That was amazing!" Janna said, stretching herself, still slightly breathless.

"I told you I knew how to do this."

Janna sat the couch once more, feeling blissfully relaxed. "I don't know about the "magical prince", but your hands ARE magic."

"Thanks."

They had gone downstairs and onto the couch, the candles had a too pungent aroma. Marco started to make some snacks while Janna tried to hint at him they should get a little closer. Somehow Marco took it that she wanted to a massage, so she laid down on the couch Marco worked out her knots.

"How do you know how to do that?"

"Pressure points, I learned them to fight with and from there I sort of learned how to work out knots." A ding was heard from the kitchen, "I'll go get the snacks. You said you have a movie with you?"

"Yeah, I get in detention a lot so I've started carrying movies with me to watch. Besides Leah gave me something new to watch, so I figured out 'why not?'."

As Marco went to get snacks Janna pulled out a movie, it was supposed to be scary so she figured it would be a great chance to toy with the clueless prince.

While she had to admit that Star was right when she said that Marco was cute, Janna had found odd his secluded behavior. It wasn't like the other introverts, who simply wished to not be seen. She KNEW something was off about the transfer student. Now that she found out the guy had magic powers and was a freaking prince, there was no way she was going to let this pass. Janna couldn't miss this chance. School was dreadfully boring, the only thing breaking the unwavering monotony her and Star's schemes. Now that there was a supernatural element living in her friend's house, she'd make the most out of this experience. He was fun to mess with and she might even be able to learn magic!

Things were about to get far more interesting and she wouldn't let this opportunity get away.

She put on a DVD as Marco came in with a plate of nachos.

"So, what movie are we watching?" Marco settled on the couch next to her,

"It's called the Human Centipede."

0000

"What's that?" Star questioned the demons standing beneath a tank.

"That for taking photos."

Star watched a pair of demons get splashed with blood.

"Is that real blood?" Star questioned.

"Yup, fresh too."

"… Where did you get the blood from?"

"Huh?" Tom rubbed his chin, "Not sure, I didn't ask for names."

Star was trying not to say anything. Trying to make conversation, her mind wandered back to the only thing she knew they both had in common, "So, Marco, he doesn't like going to dances?"

"I don't know about that, I know he likes music and even has taken up a few instruments, but I think it's more the idea of dancing with others."

"So, he doesn't dance with people?"

"I don't think so, it's just he gets nervous about people and I don't think he's ever actually danced with anyone or even had a real date."

"What? I would have thought a prince would have no problem getting a date. Like, could he get a date with other princess?"

"Well, he's been set up on 'dates' with princess to see if they click but no sparks and they end up super awkward. Honestly, I don't think he's ever had any real romantic feelings."

"Not even a crush?"

"Well, I know he's got a celebrity crush on that warrior Mina Loveberry and he's got a huge crush on Princess Puri Puri Pearl, despite what he says. It's just hard for him to get close enough to girl to develop feelings."

"But nothing more solid?"

"No," Tom sighed, "Look I'll tell you this much:"

Star leaned in a bit.

"Marco's more of a romantic than he'd care to admit, I think he'd love to fall for someone but the same time he's too afraid of being hurt." Tom looked almost mournful, "Growing up, Me and Pony Head were his closest friends. He tried to make friends, other kingdom brought their kids to get to know him and play with him. You know, if they became friends, when they were in charge they'd get along, have a foundation. The problem was that he was picked on a lot by the children of other royals, talked behind his back by some of his own servants and peasants. He tried to be nice and was teased for it. He eventually started pulling back. Usually I had to step in and stand up for him, so I've gotten a bit protective about him." Tom scratched his head, "Sorry, If I'm being too serious. It's just that it's a little hard not to worry about a friend who has been hurt before and I can't do much to help him now."

Star shook her head. "No, I understand. This is a sensitive subject. Thanks for opening up about it." Star tried to give him a reassuring smile.

This was something she'd prefer to hear from Marco, finding out from another person made it feel like she'd been invading his privacy. She understood why Marco didn't say anything before, she then began to understand why Marco was so withdrawn at times.

Star swore to herself to at least try to be there for him, let him feel comfortable to open up and make sure he didn't regret it.

0000

Janna was amused by the prince's reactions to her movie of choice. Marco currently had his arms wrapped around Janna as he clung close to her. What started as a prank ended up being far more interesting that she had initially expected. She then put an arm around him, part wanting to tease him, part wanting to ease him and part for… reasons she wasn't quite certain.

"Let's see where this goes…" Janna said to herself

She leaned back and waited as she watched the movie. "Wait-! What? What are they sewing his lips to? Oh god! No! That's too much! No! No! No!" Marco yelled at the images on the television.

She immediately regretted her train of thought and tried to cover her own eyes.

0000

Star found herself alone as Tom was called away for his duties.

Star wandered around a bit more, she was finding this ball less fun than she hoped. She found herself surrounded by many terrifying looking creatures.

She went to get some punch but when she got close she found someone reach it before her and the drink melting their cup and their flesh.

"I probably should wait to get something to eat later." Star bemoaned, "Man, Marco's nachos would be a good call right now."

0000

Janna stomped on the DVD followed by Marco zapping it with his wand.

"Leah… I knew you had something weird, but that was creepy up to eleven. I'll have to outdo you soon." Janna said, before recalling a glimpse of the movie again and shuddering with the memory. "Just… not now." Janna fell back into the couch.

"I might have something we can watch." Marco suggested. Marco pulled a DVD he had left resting besides the DVD player. "Star got me, she showed me one of the movies of this series and I liked so she got me the next in the series."

"Okay, sure, let's watch it. Can't be any worse than _THAT_." Janna sneered at the broken DVD of the horrific movie.

Marco popped it in and finished preparing his nachos.

They watched the movie, it was one of the Mackie Hand films. Janna had heard about the films before but never had sat down and watched them. She didn't think they were terrible just not all that great. The plot was a bit generic: the protagonist was a karate master living his life with this girl he loved when bad guys showed up and then he had to go fight them to save the girl. The effects were tacky by today's standard but about standard for 40 years ago when the movie was made. The acting wasn't bad, the lead, Mackie Hand, wasn't the best but he did have a genuine charisma that helped with his lackluster acting.

The real highlight of the movie were the action scenes, they were all done in one take and by people who knew what they were doing. They did have talent and passion when it came to the action scenes and it showed.

Janna grabbed a few nachos and looked to her side where Marco was entranced by the film, his eyes shinning.

They had gotten to a slow moment in the movie and Janna decided to ask him a question, "What do you like so much about this movie? It's not bad, I've certainly seen worse but why do you look like this the best movie ever?"

"Well," Marco began, "I know it's not perfect, but I like it."

"Yeah, I see that and that's great. I'm not judging, I'm just trying to understand why do you like it so much?"

"Well, the action is amazing! Watching it I feel each movement, the intensity behind it and the power. It gets my heart pumping! Like any moment someone could actually be hurt."

Jann held back her tongue, she knew in fact that Mackie Hand had died performing his own stunt, she didn't think it was worth revealing that now.

"And…" Marco began nervously.

"And what?" Janna leaned in.

"I like the romance."

Janna snorted, "Really? I mean-"

"I know," Marco freely admitted, "it's cheesy and horribly cliché, but… I like the idea of someone standing up for someone they cared about and facing the world for them.

"…" Janna studied him for a moment and Marco only stared back waiting for her to poke him, "Okay, that's a sweet sentiment. I can respect that." Janna simply grabbed some more nacho chips.

Marco looked over and grabbed some nachos too.

"You made these yourself?"

"Yeah," Marco shrugged, "I'm a pretty good cook, I've been trying food from Earth's cookbooks."

"Well, women love a man who can cook."

0000

Star found herself staring at the punch bowl as a skeletal fish swam in it. "Hello, Henry!" She turned to the demon next to her, "His name is Henry."

The demon only studied, "You a Mewman?"

"Ah, no, Human actually. I'm here as Tom's guest."

"Oh, Tom's guest. How you liking the ball so far?"

"Oh, it's been something." Star tried not to complain, despite not having that much fun.

The demon looked Star over, "You're really pretty."

"Thank you." Star was a little surprised, that comment came out of nowhere but a compliment so she took it.

"Do you want to dance?"

0000

Tad Cooper flicked his tongue at Janna as she held him. "Okay, cute, but it looks like a lizard with chicken wings."

Tad hissed at her for that and she hissed back.

Janna had asked to see him do some magic, thus far she wasn't all that impressed, but she still petted the small dragon.

"Well, I did get this idea last movie night." Marco told her as he fiddled with his wand, "That and this weird dream I had about this guy with a bow tie and top hat."

"Okay, sounds weird. I love it! Let's see it."

Marco readied his wand pointing it at the table before them, "Super Shadow Ninja Nacho Cheese Devastation!"

In a blast of yellow light and melted nacho cheese a small triangle shaped nacho wearing a tiny black ninja outfit with a red scarf. Two tiny blinking eyes looked up at Janna and suddenly the small figure started throwing ninja stars at her.

"Huh?" Janna shrugged off the tiny little attacks. She picked him as he pulled out a sword trying to hit her. "Feisty little fellow. I guess this isn't bad, I would have imagined something bigger. I don't know, if this were up to me I'd summon like some giant black skeleton to toss my enemy around."

"That sounds scary."

"Good, take your enemy by surprise and scare them right before the attack."

0000

Star turned down several demons, a lot of them were asking her to dance. Though flattered she was saving the dance for Tom.

"Hey!" A zombie, a female zombie, maybe they were missing a lot of flesh, "What do you think you're doing?"

"Uh, nothing, just walking around." Star quickly told her as more girls walked to her.

A goblin girl looked at her, "You think you're so pretty and you can have any guy you want!"

"Uh, no, I-"

"This is the Blood Moon Ball! This is our chance to get our souls bond with a guy and you are just hussy-ing everything up."

"Excuse me?"

"Don't play dumb! You got all the guys fawning over you. All because you have all your limbs and flesh intact." More monster girls walked over to Star, menacing her. "Let's see if we can change that."

Star took a few steps back trying to escape the girls but was stopped when she walked back into a plumb one-eyed ball of hair.

With a grizzly voice he asked, "Do want to dance?"

"You can't have that hunk too!" Star jumped out of the way as one of the girls lunge at Star but ended up getting the fur ball.

Star used the chance to bolt, running as fast she could, but soon was confronted by more monsters some wanted her to dance and others wanted to tear off her arms.

Star decided it was time to fight her way out.

Before she could, flames shot down as Tom hovered down in front of her, looking somewhat irritated. "What's going on here?! It's supposed to be a dance ball! Why are you all running around making all this fus-"

A flying wooden chair struck him, someone in the back yelled, "Did I get her?"

"Are you okay?" Star reached out for him.

Tom turned around, his eyes ablaze with flames.

One of the demons, "Oh, boy, we set him off again."

Tom roared as flames erupted out of his hands striking some of the ball goers. In a berserker rage, Tom started spreading out the flames.

Star decided she'd had enough, "Okay, so I had a lovely time but I'm just-" The roof caught on fire, "I'm going to show myself out. Thanks for having me."

Star bolted out the room as quickly as she could. With a mad dash, she rushed back to the demon elevator and jumped in.

The demon asked, "Which floor?"

"TOP FLOOR! EARTH! ONE!" Star pounded on the doors.

The elevator moved up as the halls filled with flames.

0000

"Thanks!" Star walked out of the elevator letting her off at her front door.

Flames quickly opened taking the elevator back. She sighed in relief that that night was over, walked into her living room to find Marco on the couch with Janna holding some sort of winged lizard.

"Oh, you're back." Marco smiled, something she appreciated, "How did it go?"

Star sighed slipping off her shoes, "It was interesting, Tom seemed nice… ah, and it ended with Tom setting fire to everything."

"Someone set him off? I was hoping your presence would help keep him calm."

"Is he blowing up that common?"

"He's got some temper issues, I've tried to help him with it and he's gotten better but when he gets stressed out or someone just upsets him he kinda scorches things."

"He kinda set everyone on fire."

"They're demons, fire is the least of their worries. Demons also heal super quick. I accidentally cut off Tom's hand off and it was fixed in less than a minute. They don't really care." Marco comforted her. "At least, I hope they don't…" He mumbled in response, recalling said incident with Tom's hand.

Star stared, trying to think of something to talk and just sat down next to Marco. "You're watching a musical. Is that Singing in the Rain?"

"Uh, yeah, Janna thought I might like it."

"Yeah, I keep a lot of DVD's in my bag."

Star smiled and watched the movie her foot tapping along with the song, Marco tapping along and Janna swaying her head to the side along with the beat.

Star smiled happy that she ended up here. She reached over for some nachos.

Outside the house a red crescent room shone onto the house like a silent guardian. The teenagers inside failing to notice the red light.

"ACK! Why is a nacho chip throwing ninja stars at me!?" Star bellowed.

"Will! Stop!" Marco ordered his summon, "Star is a friend!"

"Get him, Tad!" Janna ordered tossing the dragon at the chip.

0000

Back in the Underworld, Tom was petting a rabbit while talking to Brian. All the scorched demons around were starting to put themselves back together. Despite everything they all actually had fun.

Brian was talking to Tom, "Well, that wasn't great but not terrible. You got set off by someone attacking you, that is a valid reason. You are starting to identify valid reasons to get angry. Now we should probably talk about finding better ways to express your anger."

"Yeah, sorry about that. Did Star get back home safely?"

"Yes, one of your demons confirmed that he dropped her back at her door."

"Good, I'd hate to accidentally burn one of Marco's friends."

Brian smiled, he took it that it was a good sign that Tom was so protective over a friend. He was focusing that anger in a positive direction, to those who would hurt his friend or those he cared about.

* * *

 **Beta notes: And this chapter is done! Gosh, things took longer than desirable. Projects and whatnots holding me down, but I'm much more available right now. If how progress is going, chapter 4 shouldn't take too long to come. Given how I'm also learning how to speed up my editing skills, it should be up in no time. Things are getting really exciting from this point onwards. Thanks for your patience and see you guys on the next chapter!**

* * *

 **Author's Notes: So, stuff is happening now. Marco will forever be mentally scared by that movie. Oh and he and Janna are friends now. So yeah, and we introduced Glossaryck. Okay, anyway let me know what you guys think by leaving a review.**


	4. Chapter 4: Brittney Party

**Prince Marco Vs The Forces of Darkness**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Star vs the forces of evil.**

* * *

Chapter 04: Brittney's Party

Marco walked down the halls warily. He found it difficult to get used to the changes that happened. Since Tom arrived and his secret was revealed (and subsequently told to everyone else in the entire school), he noticed there was a lot more attention on him.

It's not like he hated it, everyone was being friendly to him. Still, he just didn't know how to answer all the questions thrown at him about his kingdom and magic. If he slowed down or even stopped he'd get flooded with more questions than he could answer. Trying to avoid that, he started to rush to the next class, sitting down as soon as possible and start reading something until the teacher got in or start a conversation with Star or Janna. If he was talking or reading people didn't seem to try to interrupt as much.

That didn't work very well, he wasn't paying attention and he bumped into someone who hit the floor hard with the impact.

"Ow!" The cheerleader on the floor let out.

"Sorry!" Marco quickly took her hand to help her on her feet. "Ah, Sabrina, right? Are you ok?"

Sabrina blinked and blushed before she pulled her hand away, "Ah, yes, Prince Marco, I'm fine."

"Uh, just 'Marco', please." Marco had actually enjoyed people not calling him prince. He understood the importance of the title when it came to ruling people but it made it harder to connect. The only real friends he had either had the similar titles or just didn't care about those titles. Now it seemed to add an extra layer of distance between him and the others.

Marco paused for a moment when he realized Sabrina was paying attention to something else: a line before her.

Walking down the line was a girl wearing a purple skirt and matching sweater vest. Marco had done his best to try and remember everyone's names when he arrived at the school and was introduced, but it was difficult to remember so many names at once.

She was holding a stack of envelops and delivering seemingly randomly while saying "No, No, yes, no, yes,"

Marco raised an eye brow unsure of what was happening.

The girl paused and sighed, "Yes." She apathetically gave one of the envelopes to Sabrina.

Sabrina quickly squealed in delight before collapsing to the floor.

"Are you okay?" Marco questioned the girl.

"I hurt my back a little…" Sabrina moaned "I'll be okay."

"Ah, Prince Marco!" The girl smiled spotting Marco.

"You can just call me 'Marco'."

She leaned in, "We'll if you insist… Marco." Her tone flirtatious when pronouncing his name unattached to the title. "I was just thinking the other day about what a shame that you missed my birthday party. You transferred right after it. It was really fun, so I thought why not have another party and make sure you were invited." She pulled out a golden envelope, with beautiful calligraphy with Marco's name on it. As Marco took it he couldn't help but noticed the wonderful smelling perfume on it.

"Oh, well, thank you for inviting me." Marco wasn't much for parties, he was already thinking of a polite way to turn it down.

"Just make sure to RSVP, we are sending car to pick everyone and bring them to a yacht. I wanted a party jet but my father said no. You must be used to having a sort of luxuries being a prince and all."

Marco shrugged not realizing how close Brittney had gotten to him.

Brittney chuckled, "Don't be so modest." Her finger started to play with the zipper on his hoodie.

"Yeah, thank you for inviting me but-"

"No need for thanks." She pulled away playfully tapping her chin, "I suppose if you wanted to thank me you could get me a belated birthday present."

"Birthday present?"

"You're getting me a birthday present? Aren't you sweet." Brittney's eyes sparkled, "I'm sure it's going to be amazing."

Walking up to them Star and Janna came by, with Star excitedly asking: "Hey Brittney you're having another party so soon?"

Marco made a note of the name, it would have been super awkward to have to ask her name after all this.

Brittney struggled to keep her friendly smile on while Marco was there, "Hello Star Butt-erfly. Why yes, I am throwing another party."

"Cool!" Star said delighted, "I wanted to make sure because I didn't get an invitation for your birthday party."

"Yeah, neither did I." Janna scoffed, she knew why they hadn't gotten it.

Star was too naive sometimes. She didn't even realize Brittney didn't like them.

"Oh, well, I just got mine." Marco showed his invitation. "I'm sure you two will get yours soon. We should go together." Marco offered, honestly at this point it felt he couldn't back out and having his friends there would make things easier.

"That sounds like a plan." Star turned to Brittney, "Do you have them now?"

Brittney flinched. "Yes, of course. Any friend of Marco is a friend of mine."

Brittney didn't bother putting any names on any of the invites except for Marco's, so she handed the girls some.

Brittney had planned this whole thing to get Marco on her yacht and flirt with him, maybe even getting a present from him. She figured dating a prince would be amazing, getting loads of amazing gifts, traveling to different places, going to his kingdom where she'd be served hand and foot. Maybe somewhere down the road maybe she'd end Queen. Running her own country did sound pretty good. If they failed to hit it off then maybe getting close would be enough, she could still get a few rather lavish presents from him.

She couldn't ignore those two girls as they were his friends, not that she could understand why a prince would bother with them, so she had to invite them not to upset him.

"So, it's this Saturday so be ready."

With that she left as quickly as she could, not wanting to say anything she'd regret in front of the magical prince. She planned to pull Marco away for some alone time at the party. It was bound to be nothing less than perfect.

"I guess I should find her a present." Marco said looking at the invitation and how fancy it was.

"Jewels?" Star suggested, "Gold? You got plenty of those. Money never fails."

"But that seems so impersonal, especially when someone is going out of their way to be so friendly. What does Brittney like?"

"The color purple." Star offered up. "She is always wearing purple."

Janna growled. "She likes being bossy."

"She likes cheerleading." Sabrina offered down on the floor. "Her dad made sure she became our captain."

"Oh!" Star jumped back, "Sorry I stepped on your hair. Didn't see you there."

"It's okay."

"Do you need help getting to nurse's office?" Marco asked her.

"Ah, well, you don't need to worry, I'm fine." She replied, still static on the floor.

Marco looked at her empathetically.

"It's not problem. I'll take you there" Marco said, his usual worried tone in full effect.

"Well, if you don't min- EEP!" Before she even finished her sentence, Marco bent down and picked her up in her arms.

"Let's go." Marco took her in his arms and walked towards the nurse's office. "Maybe you can help me too."

Sabrina blushed, she was being princess carried by an actual prince. "Ask me for anything."

0000

Marco asked some questions to Sabrina about Brittney and with that in mind he started to plan what to get her. A few days later they went to the mall.

Star dragged a sulking Janna. "We will get some dresses, you find your gift." Janna frowned as Star tugged her along.

Marco went on trying to figure out what to get her. From his chat with Sabrina she found out some things about Brittney. Brittney was a leader (of sorts), so they had something in common. Brittney always had make up making sure it was perfect, someone who cares about presentation and how they seemed to others was something he knew well with his make up issues. Marco thought about getting make up but was afraid that it would seem like he thought she needed it. Overall it seemed like Brittney kept to herself, never talking much about her own interests to anyone. Sabrina did tell him how she would always rent a karaoke machine for her parties. So, Marco decided to try that, maybe get her one those things.

Marco got some of the money he kept in his rooms for larger expenses and looked around for a store. After asking around he found a music shop.

"Yeah, sorry." The man behind the counter told him. "Karaoke machines aren't exactly something we sell often so we don't keep many in stock. We have a couple to rent but if you want to buy we won't be getting any more for sale in a month. I could try and order one for you and have it sent, but it won't arrive for a while."

"Maybe… I need it for a present for Saturday. I would rather have it here in time for that. I'm going to look around some more."

Marco took the invitation out of his pocket and looked at the picture of Brittney on it. Brittney made sure people knew her parties were about her.

"Hey! It's that girl!"

"You know her?"

"Not 'know' her, more like 'see her often'." The man pointed to a store across the hall away. "She comes around here pretty often. She's usually wearing a hoodie or a coat and some shades, but that's definitely her."

"Thank you."

Marco walked over to the other store, at first thinking it was a toy store. When he asked, they told him it was a comic book store. It was a shop for those whose hobby was stories about heroes and the alike pop culture.

He showed them her picture and they did say she came in often.

The cashier, "Yeah, she comes in like clock work. Usually on the less crowded hours like 45 minutes after we open or 30 minutes before we close when the store is pretty empty and get out five minutes before we lock up. She always pays in cash. She doesn't talk much except ask if we have something she wants."

"That's odd," Marco hummed, "Have you ever seen her eyeing over something? Maybe something she looks at a lot but never gets."

"Hm.. There might be something. She never goes over a certain amount, and this thing would wipe her out, like a couple of times over." The cashier led Marco over to the back of the store and pointed to an item behind a glass case.

"She always pauses and looks at this."

"It costs 650 dollars?" Marco asked.

"Yup, limited edition pack, super ultra rare collectable and high quality items bundle."

"I'll take it."

0000

"Marco! The limo is here! She sent a limo!" Star called Marco down as she and Janna waited for him.

"Coming!" Marco rushed down the stairs. "I had to finish wrapping the present."

He carried a paper bag and a colorfully wrapped large box sticking out.

At the bottom of the steps Marco paused to see his friends. "You both look amazing."

Star was wearing a pink and red dress while Janna was wearing a dark green dress with a skirt with a black spider-web pattern.

"Thanks," Janna said, "What about you?"

Marco looked at his jeans and hoodie. "Is something wrong?"

Janna glared in response "You're so lucky you're a guy."

"… Some would argue that point..." Marco mumbled under his breath as he walked outside.

They walked into the limo and it soon drove off, failing to realize that a frog monster was snacking on chips from a tree branch, observing them.

0000

After a half an hour ride, they finally reached the pier. Marco spent most of the time trying to keep Star from sticking her head out of the window or moon roof. Marco was feeling a bit weird as he stepped out of the limo. He could already see several people from school boarding the large ship.

"Everyone who is coming on board! You have five minutes before we pull away." A sailor shouted from the ship.

"I'm just saying if I had to get dress up, you should too." Janna crossed her arms.

"Fine, I suppose it'd be proper thing to do to dress up nicely." Marco pulled out his wand and pointed it at himself. "Radiant Shadow Transformation!"

In a flash of dazzling light, Marco's clothes changed. Instead of his casual outfit he was wearing a freshly pressed tuxedo suit with a black bow tie and a red dress shirt. Also, he had on a white domino mask.

"Ah, you look great." Star asked, "What's with the mask?"

Marco pulled it off and put it in his pocket, "Not sure, it just came out that way when I thought about it." He replied with a shrug.

They got onto the yacht before it got going.

Marco found himself being the center of attention. While Janna and Star's outfits fit right in with everyone's party clothes Marco looked a tad over dressed.

Brittney greeted them, well, mostly Marco. She didn't even seem to notice the two girls.

"Okay." Janna started. "Let's get some food." Star followed Janna to the snack table.

"You wore a suit?" Brittney asked, quickly scanning the flustered mewman.

"Ah, yes sorry if it's not right outfit-"

"No, no, you look really good. Its better to overdress than underdress." Brittney tugged her hair behind her ear, she had to admit to herself that Marco really did look good in the suit, "What do you think of my dress?"

"It's very lovely."

Brittney was wearing a purple dress with a crystal tiara, trying to connect the whole princess thing with the prince.

"Oh, here's your present." Marco quickly handed her the gift bag.

"Thank yo- AKC!" Brittney nearly fell over due to its weight.

"Oops!" Marco quickly took it back. "It's heavier than it looks, must be the packaging."

Brittney stared at him for a moment, she wasn't exactly weak, but at first glance Marco didn't exactly look beefy. Yet he didn't seem to be struggling at all.

She poked his muscles in curiosity. "Stop that, it tickles." Marco stifled a giggle.

"Oh, sorry you're just a lot stronger than you look." Brittney blushed a bit but paused when she noticed his sickly semblance. "Are you okay? You look a bit green."

"I think the ride was a little rough." Marco admitted. "I'm going to find a place to put down your gift and try to settle my stomach."

"Well, I'm going to start the karaoke machine, maybe come by later and maybe we make out." Brittney halted, Marco only vaguely looking at her for a second. "A duet! I meant 'make a duet'!" Brittney quickly continued, before walking away with a blush.

They parted ways with Marco mentally shrugging the event. He placed the gift bag on an empty chair and went to get some punch hoping to please his unsettled stomach.

"Marco, are you all right?" Star asked him. "You don't look so hot."

"Are you sea sick or something?" Janna asked scarfing down some shrimp.

"No, I felt a bit weird in the limo too."

"Maybe you got motion sickness." Star wagered. "Take some deep breaths and look at the horizon."

Marco tried to relax a bit, Brittney started to sing, most of the party cringing as Brittney's screeching voice reached their ears.

Marco didn't notice the music as he leaned over the rail and tried to keep the contents of his stomach inside.

"Here."

Marco turned around to find a blond girl with a blue streak in her hair. "Jackie Lynn Thomas!"

She mildly tilted her head. "You know who I am?"

"Ah," Marco stuttered. "Yeah, we have math together. I'm actually surprised you know me."

"Are you kidding? Everyone knows about our school's very own magical prince."

Marco shrunk back slightly but winced as his stomach grumbled.

Jackie handed him the drink she brought over, "Here, I brought you some seltzer water. It's supposed to be good for stomach."

"Thanks." Marco started to sip the drink.

"Yeah, it looks like you might be sea sick. Just relax and try to get used to it." Jackie gave him a reassuring smile. "I'm going to dance floor, you should come if you're feeling up for it."

Marco meekly stared as she waved at him and left.

"Marco!" Star startled the prince. "Do you like Jackie?"

Marco turned around blushing, "What? No! What are you talking about?" He replied, staggering in confusion. "Maybe YOU have a crush on her. You're just trying to throw me off."

"You like her." Star grinned impishly.

"No, I just think she's cool, cute, and super nice." He said, briefly crossing his arms and turning away from Star to hide his blush.

"You have a crush!" Star said excited, she was happy to hear he had a crush especially after everything Tom had told her.

"I'm gonna go talk you up."

"No!" Marco quickly grabbed her arm.

"Hey Marco!" Janna came over with a football player. "Settle a bet for us."

Justin, as Marco recalled his name, held out a plate of oysters, "Do these smell like they gone bad?"

Marco's stomach was turning.

Justin sucked up one of the oysters, "Yeah, they taste like they've gone bad."

Marco held his lips tight as he tried not to puke. He silently wished for something to take his mind off all this. Brittney was bellowing out a number as everyone in ear shot cringed.

"Don't start Un-Believing! Never don't not feel your feelings!~!"

She was cut off as a dark green portal formed in the middle of the dance floor forcing everyone to clear the area.

Monsters flooded out and Ludo finally strode out. "Hello Prince Marco! I'm sorry to interrupt your little party."

"Thank Axoltl!" Marco sighed in relief, he knew how to deal with attacking monsters. "I mean, what's your game, Ludo?"

Some of the monsters rushed deeper into the ship.

Ludo walked over to the snack table and grabbed a soda can and popped it open with his beak. "Oh, bubbles! Ah, well, were ship-napping you. Stealing this whole ship."

"Yacht!" Brittney interrupted, stomping at Ludo. "It's a yacht, you're yacht-napping. And you are not!"

"Who are you?" Ludo asked struggling beneath the rich girl's high heels.

"Brittney, sorry about this." Marco apologized before turning to Brittney. "This is Prince Ludo Avarius. He's…, sort of the guy who tries to steal my magic wand every now and then." Marco held out his sword like wand.

"He's a prince too?" Brittney looked at the small creature confused, lifting her foot to take a better look at the intruder.

"Yeah, and he's one of my enemies who wants to steal my wand." Marco shrugged. "It happens, a lot of my predecessors had this come up too."

Brittney raised an eye brow at how calm Marco seemed to be when dealing with something so dangerous sounding. One would not talk this casually about an enemy prince trying to steal a magical artifact. Marco knew that over the generations many foes had faced against his family solely to get the wand. He and his parents hoped that his generation would get skipped but they planned for it regardless. He already knew how to defend himself and was improving with his magic. He even had Glossaryck show him some basic combat spells. Ludo hadn't been much of a threat, so it was almost overkill how well-prepared Marco was to his schemes.

Honestly, he didn't have much reason to worry. Ludo was small and not skilled or smart. All his monsters were brutes, poorly trained in fighting if anything and their awful teamwork only made it worse. If Marco keep his guard up he should be fine, especially having Star watching his back.

But as Ludo grabbed some oysters off the table Marco realized they weren't alone, there were bystanders: all of the party guests. Someone could easily get caught in the crossfire or be taken hostage by one of the monsters. Marco scolded himself mentally after realizing it, he under estimated how devious Ludo could be.

Ludo continued to munch on his snacks, "So, you'll love this plan." Ludo gushed, "So we will 'yacht-nap' you" he glanced over at Brittney. "Just steal the whole thing."

The whole yacht started to rock back and forth, Marco bent over as he struggled not to fall over.

Everyone struggled to ready themselves as the ship move wildly.

"Ludo, what did you do?" Marco turned to the bird monster.

0000

Lobster Claws and a crocodile monster had swam down into the water before the ship and plunged a pair of scissors into it. The water glowed slightly as they yanked the dimensional scissors forming a large tear, water began flood into the vortex creating a swirling whirlpool.

"Yeah!" Lobster claw cheered.

They stopped when both monsters were sucked into the whirlpool.

0000

Buff Frog came back in to the room, "The crew has been knocked out and Three-Eyed Potato Baby is steering us right into the whirlpool."

"You see?" Ludo smirked, "We'll just take this whole yacht and deal with you at my castle. You won't be able to escape or anything."

"That's a particularly stupid plan, Ludo." Star stared at the monster.

"It's a great plan! Shut up! Just get them!"

The monsters rushed them, Star jumped into the fight kicking another monster in the face.

Marco took a step to try and help but the boat rocking wasn't helping his stomach. He held out his wand and after a small burp he yelled out. "Super Shadow Ninja Nacho Cheese Devastation!"

In a cheese blast, a small ninja chip showed up brandishing his sword.

"What is that?" Ludo pointed at the small triangle. "You expect to beat me with a chip?" Ludo mocked the spell.

Before another word could be said, Will the Ninja Chip jumped and drop-kicked Ludo across the room, burying him in the steel wall.

"Will, protect all the party guests." Marco ordered the chip who nodded.

Buff Frog peeled Ludo off the wall, Ludo coughed and stood up, still dazed from the impact. "Okay, maybe he's tougher than he looks, but that tiny thing cannot beat all my monsters."

"'Tiny'… like you're one to talk." Janna chuckled in the distance.

Will cracked his tiny knuckles, and then began making elaborate hand motions. With several puffs of smoke thousands of identical chips covered the floor ready to face off against the monsters. The army of ninja chips began to fight the monsters on board. Soon the monster found themselves covered by dozens of chips beating them down.

"Did that chip just use the shadow clone technique?" Brittney stared dumbfounded.

"I have no idea what that is." Marco confirmed. "It's based on a technique ninjas used, 'Bunshin no jutsu', I think it was called."

Star lead the assault on the monster leading the tiny little ninja warrior army. Marco would normally be there with her but he was finding it hard to move. The crowd of students cheered Star and clones on as they fought the monsters.

Ludo ran around in circles trying to avoid the ninjas that followed him.

Buff Frog grabbed one of the tables and threw it at the chip army, the ninja warriors jumping of the way but they neglected to stop the table that was on dead course to hit Brittney. Marco shoved Brittney out of the way, getting struck by the table. The impact threw Marco over the ship's rails and down to the water below.

The Ninja Chips all blinked in horror having failed to protect Marco, poofing in tiny smoke clouds.

"Marco!" Star yelled out.

"Marco…" Brittney stared with worry taking in what just happened.

Many of the guests and monster turned over noticing what had happened.

"Buff Frog!" Ludo scolded the large monster. "What are you doing?!"

"It was not my intent to hurt the prince."

"I don't care about that, you idiot! You tossed him off the ship! He had the wand! Go in after him!"

A flash of red light shone from the water below and something shot out.

Marco clung to what look like horsed mixed with a sea lion. One of its fins patted Marco on the back, it had a mane of flowing sea weed, its long fish like tail swaying.

"Thank you, Ariel."

"Is that a Kelpie?" Buff Frog took a step back, sweating cold upon sighting the beast.

Many of the aquatic monsters also stepped back. Kelpie were to those monsters what bears were to woodsmen, things you just rather avoid.

Ariel growled and charged at Buff Frog after identifying his master's attacker.

Janna Ran to Marco's side. "Are you all right?"

"Yeah," Marco coughed spitting out some water, "before I hit the water I managed to summon my Kelpie."

Janna chuckled "You really do like those summoning spells. I guess it's lucky."

Marco got on his feet, still feeling unwell but he couldn't afford to slack off after what happened. He got lucky he had a spell ready, but the others wouldn't be so lucky. Ariel was drawing monster's focus with Star's help but that wouldn't last. Star rode the Kelpie smacking the monsters in sight.

That actually didn't turn out to be an issue at all, soon the yacht started to tilt to one side.

Marco slid to the side and looked over the rail. "Oh no…"

The guests and monster started to slide as the boat started tilting. They were quickly approaching the whirlpool.

"We're gonna get pulled in!" Star shouted.

Everyone started to panic as the ship began to spin as it got closer to the rift in the center.

"You see? It's a great plan!" Ludo held up his head. "Nothing you can do will stop this ship from getting sucked in."

Star punched another monster and looked at the overconfident Ludo. "Exactly where does this portal open up to?"

"Oh, I told my monsters to have it open up by my castle."

"But won't you get dragged in too?" Star pointed out.

"Ah…"

Buff Frog added, "And won't everyone get pulled under the water? I will be fine, but how about you and everyone else?"

"Ah…" Ludo stared blankly for a second, realizing his shortcomings. "Retreat!" He searched his pockets. "Where are my scissors?"

"You gave them to lobster claws." Buff Frog told him.

The peaceful yacht ride under the stars had suddenly become a rollercoaster ride.

"We can fix this." Ludo told them. "Grab the wand and we can use it to save ourselves!"

"Over my dead-" Marco paused as he had to keep himself from throwing up.

Buff Frog used the opportunity to jump him. Marco tried to fight him off but both of them being spun made it hard to keep their balance and the wand got knock out of Marco's hands.

"Grab the wand!" Ludo yelled out.

The two-head monster reached for it but Star slid in slamming into the monster faces keeping him away from it.

The bear monster reached for the wand but the moment their fingers reached it Ariel bit them. With a yelp the monster let the wand go, flinging it in the air again.

As the room spun, many tried to reach for it, but no one grabbed it, the magical artifact bouncing around everyone's fingertips.

Marco jumped for it only to have Buff Frog stop him.

The wand fell next to a plate of empty oysters. "Ugh, I don't think those are sitting well." Ludo moaned in nausea, not realizing the wand.

"Master Ludo! The wand!" Buff Frog yelled out trying to keep Marco from running towards it.

Ludo barely noticed the wand as it started to slide towards a panicking Brittney.

"Give me the wand!" Ludo demanded.

Startled, Brittney turned towards the small monster and looked at the object near her feet. "This?" Brittney grabbed it carelessly in the confusion.

A bright light engulfed the sword shaped artifact and it turned into a wand with a purple handle and a gold crescent moon shaped top, with a large diamond sitting where the moon met the handle.

"Huh?" Janna noted, "Isn't that from Sailor Mo-"

"I DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT!" Brittney yelled out.

"Just take the wand from the girl!" Ludo ordered his monsters.

Marco wanted to get up and run towards Brittney, but she was too far. Even if he was feeling well he knew he'd never reach her in time.

Unsure what to do Brittney held onto the wand. Everything may be a chaotic mess, but she knew for sure that whatever significance the wand may had, it surely wouldn't be a good idea to hand it to the monsters that crashed her party. She still stepped back, given she was unable to fight them off.

"Use the wand!" Marco yelled out. "Say the first thing that comes to your mind! Let the spell come straight from your heart!"

As the monsters rushed at her to take the wand, she held out the wand and chanted the first words that came to her. "Moon Spiral heart attack!"

A sparkling pink heart energy beam rushed out of the wand striking at all the monsters knocking them backwards.

Brittney got on her feet staring at the wand, she felt a strange power in the wand, flowing through it as she spoke the words. She still didn't know what happened but she felt it was something special. She was so focused on the wand she failed to remember that the ship was out of control and she was sliding right through the smashed railing.

Marco rushed after her and as she fell out of the ship the Prince leapt after her. Grabbing her midair, she felt his arms wrap around her.

She heard his voice a lot sterner, yet speaking softly to her. "Hold onto to me."

He took the wand, changing it back into its bladed design. She didn't notice him summoning up his blue cape and materializing around him, slowing them down as they fell.

"Winterstorm Hyperblow!"

A blast from his wand shot out, covering a large area around them.

She did notice Marco's hair fluttering in the wind and snow flakes danced around them and the stars twinkled above them.

Slowly they descended to the icy floor beneath them.

Finding solace on solid ground, Marco let himself smile relishing in the now invigorating sensation of a firm floor. "That's better." He took a deep breath, stomach finally giving him a break from all the nausea. Marco didn't notice Brittney holding him a little closer.

Marco surveyed the area around them, not noticing Brittney pulling the mask from his pocket that nearly falling. For a moment, she held the mask before Marco and she blushed, remembering a childhood crush.

0000

Star kicked another monster off the yacht, the Kelpie Ariel tossing another one behind it. The bay had been frozen over by Marco, making a swirling slide that lead to the rift. As the monsters hit the ice. they couldn't help but slide down the tunnel.

"Hey Star you missed one!" Janna held out Ludo who looked ready to puke.

Janna without another moment of hesitation hurled the tiny monster out onto the ice.

"Buff Frog, get me some medicine!" Ludo screamed as he slid into the portal.

0000

Everyone had gotten off from the yacht. Marco was making them all ice skates. It was a pretty rare sight in California for there to be ice and snow. Even later on, it still snowed lightly, keeping everything cool. The guests couldn't help but enjoy the small treat they rarely got to experience, many of them using the chance to skate. It would take hours for the ice to melt so they took advantage of the situation.

A small smile found its way to Marco's lips as he saw Janna and Star skating about. Sabrina accidentally bumped into them, immediately apologizing afterward as crashed down the makeshift ice ring.

"Don't worry." Star told her, approaching Sabrina to help her out.

"At least, you already got ice for your bruise." Janna pointed out.

"Hey." Marco's thoughts where interrupted by a familiar voice nearby. "Thanks for the skates, dude."

Jackie Lynn Thomas skated around him, "You're welcome." He replied flustered.

"That was a wild party. Can't wait to see how your party is going to top this one." She skated off leaving Marco with a bashful smile.

"M-Marco." Marco found Brittney's voice.

"Oh, Brittney," Marco found her behind him, flustered. "I'm sorry, It was all my fault all that happened here today and I'm so sorry I ruined your party." He apologized, feeling bad for the chaotic events that unfolded.

"Don't worry, no, I mean, I guess this sort of family feuds thing is pretty common for royals and stuff." She replied, not looking him straight in the eye.

"Something like that, I'm still sorry."

"No, it's fine. Really. I guess everyone is happy because of you, so we should just count it as a success. Don't worry too much about it." She smiled warmly at him.

Ariel flopped over towards Marco carrying a large bag.

"Oh, right. Your present. Thank you, Ariel." Marco thanked the kelpie as it left, placing the package before her. "I'm glad it wasn't damaged during the fight."

Brittney quickly opened it up seeing what Marco got her. "Is it jewels? Gold? An expensive accessory?" She listed all the possible gifts she could picture a prince giving to someone.

"I hope you like it. I asked around trying to find out what you'd like." Marco explained, "I was at the mall and found a store where you seemed to frequent. One of the clerks said you always looked at this but never got it, so I'm hoping you like it."

Brittney stared at him briefly, unsure what he meant by all that.

She ripped through the wrapping paper and the packaging, eyes going wide with the package. "Ah!"

Inside was the exclusive ultra rare collector's edition pack of Sailor Moon's items replica. It hadn't been heavy because of packaging, but because the items themselves were heavy. They were life sized replicas of some of the most iconic items from the series, such as the heroine's trademark tiara, broch, and moon stick.

Brittney couldn't help but freak out internally so as she looked around her. When she was younger she watched the series and loved it. Soon she had started to get interest in other series but she never told anyone about them, fearful of her guilty pleasure getting her teased and being labeled as a nerd. She always made sure to not indulge herself in public to make sure that her secret would remain so.

So how did Marco find out? What was his plan? Was he trying to make fun of her?

Freaking out over her secret, she turned to yell at him but froze when she met a soft, expectant smile in a slightly worried face. "Was it not to your liking? I worked hard to try and find something you'd enjoy."

She's always wanted that set, but it was too expensive for her cash money and she didn't want that appearing on her father's credit card bill, so she accepted her fate of never obtaining her spoils, merely longing for it day by day on the comic book store until someone took it. Never once did she think it'd be someone buying it _for her_.

Brittney's heart skipped a beat as she saw him fidgeting. He only wanted to get her something special for her. The transfer student that she never paid much attention until his status leaked went this far to find something she'd enjoy. She hugged the package close to her heart and smiled gratefully.

"I loved it... Thank you, Marco."

Marco let out a sigh of relief. "I'm glad. Happy belated birthday, Brittney." Marco said, before waving at her and heading towards Star and Janna, picking up pace when he saw they were trying to do a stunt involving an ice ramp and jumping over 5 students.

Her hair fell over her eyes, her face still warm despite the cold wind, snowflakes chilling the air still.

0000

As she got ready for bed, Brittney found herself stopping in front of the mirror, picking up the replica tiara and slipping it onto her head.

She couldn't help but smile, not only because she had gotten something she wanted for a long time, but because she found someone who would do something like this for no other motive than to make her smile.

Her heart beat fast thinking about him.

She had set out to make the prince fall for her but now it looked like she started to fall for the prince.

0000

Marco got ready for bed as he told Glossaryck of the events of the night.

"Hm, interesting. It's good to see you trying to overcome your insecurities and being more social. When you become king, you are going to have to deal with people."

"Yeah, I know." Marco nodded.

"Still, don't make it a habit to let other people get your wand. You may be starting to spread out your friendships, but that doesn't mean everyone is a good suitor to wield the royal magic heirloom."

"Sorry about that..." Marco lowered his head, ashamed of the entire incident. It was a miracle everything turned out find as it did, given how his wand pretty much went all over the place.

"Although, you did the right choice under the circumstances. Just try to not let it happen again. The wand channels a lot of magic, so someone who doesn't have experience with magic can be in quite some danger. The girl could have gotten seriously hurt"

"I understand." Marco answered resolutely.

"And we should start focusing more on battle spells. You hand-to-hand fighting is good, but you lean too much on your summons and creature spells. You do have those spells you've developed from spending time with _him_ , and creating your own spells have worked out well so far, but you should try and get something a bit more stable. If those monsters attack again, you should be ready. We will start tomorrow, for now get some rest."

"Good night, Glossaryck." Marco said, laying down in bed.

"Good night, prince." Glossaryck floated over to the wand and tapped it wondering what it meant that a random girl could create and fire spells so quickly.

This generation seemed to hold many surprises for the tiny little man.

0000

Ludo puked again into the bucket. He looked at the halls of his castle as monsters continued to scope buckets of water out.

It was actually good that the ship didn't get pulled in, otherwise it would have crashed right into the castle. Still, Ludo didn't feel all that lucky.

"Something was wrong with those oysters."

* * *

 **Beta's notes: And here it is! Another chapter for Marco vs his boundless harem the Forces of Darkness. It was fun working on this chapter. This story seems to be going places. So far, this has been an enjoyable ride for me and I hope it has been a good one for you too. I tried going a little bolder with grammar and wording, so I hope characters, dialogue or action sequences don't feel out of place. Me and AdDude are really glad to be working on this. See you guys next chapter. V0ID115, out!**

* * *

 **Author's Notes: So that's happened. I don't know what else to add. I hope you like the story so far, leave a review telling me what you think and what you like. I have a feeling it's gonna take me a little longer to get the next chapter but I hope it won't take too long.**


	5. Chapter 5: Match Maker

**Prince Marco Vs The Forces of Darkness**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Star vs the forces of evil.**

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Chapter 05: Match Maker

Star stared at the paper before her and groaned. "Ah! I can't believe I got another F!"

She held out the test, showing to Marco and Janna beside her. "She even put a frowny face, the frowny face of disappointment, mocking me and my F."

"So, what about you, Marco? What did you get?" Janna asked the prince.

Marco pulled out his test. "It's an A. Is that good or bad?"

Star blinked. "That's the best grade possible."

"Oh, that would explain the little happy face, huh, happy face of congratulations."

"How did you get an A?" Star questioned.

"I did like Miss Skullnick told to. I followed her instructions, paid attention to her lecture, took notes, studied my notes and did all my homework. It's not all that different from studying my spells in my spell book. Just try the process over and over again until you start getting it."

Star stared at him unconvinced, "Sooooo, just like magic, uh?" She muttered, moments before an idea struck her. "Marco! Use your magic! Turn my F into an A!"

Marco half glared at her. "Star, no, that won't accomplish anything. You still won't be able to solve the problems the next test and even if I change the letter on your paper, it will still be an F in Miss Skullnick's grade book. It won't make any difference in the long run."

Star glared at her friend, but couldn't come up with a response. She didn't know how to argue with that.

"How about I help you study?" Marco offered her, "After school we can study together."

"Ugh, fine! Want to join us, Janna?"

"Sure." Janna let out.

When classes finished, Star and Janna went outside, sitting at an empty lunch table right near a shady tree. It was a nice day with only a slight breeze. They took out their math books and waited for Marco.

"Hey!" Marco called out, Sabrina walking right behind him. "I hope you two don't mind, but I ran into Sabrina and she said she needed some help in math too." He said, gesturing to the clumsy cheerleader.

"I brought brownies." Sabrina offered up, slightly embarrassed from being the center of the group's attention.

"Ah! Yes!" Star quickly cheered up, taking one.

Sabrina explained herself, "Yes, well, I made some and thought that Marco might like them. It's just that baking and cooking is something I do to relax and-"

"Me too!" Marco admitted, picking up a brownie. "I like cooking too!"

"Really?" Sabrina smiled in surprise at the prince.

Marco tasted the brownie in his hand, pleased with its taste. "This is really great! You'll have to show me the recipe someday."

"I'll be happy to show you how to make them." Sabrina smiled, her face turning red. Marco failed to notice as he gobbled down another brownie and opened up his book.

They started off doing their math homework, not that they got much done with Star not wanting study at all. After half an hour, a shrill voice rang out, "Sabrina!"

Brittney walked in her cheerleader uniform, focusing on Sabrina. "What do you think you're doing? We have cheerleading practice!"

"Oh, sorry!" She shrunk in her spot a bit. "It's just I ran into Marco and he mentioned he was going study math and invited me join and…"

"Marco?" Brittney turned her head to see the prince nibbling a brownie. "Marco!" She quickly wrapped an arm around Sabrina. "Sabrina, if you needed some help with math, you could have told me. As your captain, I would be more than happy to help you." She then turned around to focus on Marco. "I'll just cancel today's practice and come help you all study."

"You don't have to do that." Marco objected, feeling slightly put off, not wanting to intrude in someone else's agenda.

"Don't worry! Of course I am going to help one of my teammates if they need me! Just let me get my books."

Before anyone could object Brittney had run off.

"Oh, I didn't know Brittney could be so helpful." Star cocked her head in wonder.

"Wait, you actually bought that?" Janna raised an eye brow, looking at her naïve friend.

Marco, oblivious to Janna's implications continued to eat his brownie. "Oh, you have ground nuts mixed in?"

"Yeah!" Sabrina smiled, "I think they mix the flavor better "

Janna was annoyed at how quickly her point was shrugged off, baking quickly becoming the main topic. She flipped through a notebook before pushing it towards Marco. "Hey, Marco, what does this sentence mean?"

Marco glanced over the page. "Focus on the image and say the spell, remember-" Marco paused, Noting that it was written in Mewman and his own hand writing. "That's my spell note book. Did you take that from my backpack?" Marco checked his bag.

Sabrina and Star looked over the notebook. Various pages held drawing of Marco's spells with notes written in mostly Mewman script.

"I thought that big book was your spell book, the one with the little blue man." Janna questioned it.

"Little blue man? Wait, there IS a little blue man?" Star exclaimed surprised, frowning immediately. "My dad keeps telling me sometimes he sees a little blue man stealing my pudding cups! I thought he was stealing them and was just a terrible liar!"

"Yeah, sorry." Marco apologized, "I haven't introduced you two yet. That's Glossaryck and he has a thing for pudding." Marco pulled the notebook away, giving a heavy sigh. "My family spell book has every spell any wielder of the wand has ever mastered." Marco held out his wand. "Every wielder puts in notes, facts, and our family history. Anything that's somewhat important goes there. One of the duties for any of us is that when we create a new spell, we write it into the book for future generations to learn." Marco then pointed towards the annotations. "This notebook is my practice run, my notes as I develop my spells. I don't want to even try adding them into the book until I have perfected them."

They flipped through pages, many summons for strange creatures and different spells, Marco's constant attempt at creating a better crystal shield and even a few notes on spells Marco had learned from the spell books and his attempts to master them, later landing on a page with the image of a wolf with a black and white pattern.

Star's face lit up briefly. "Okay, so let me toss this one out for you," She smiled at him, her fingers in the air. "I think this spell suits you, since you like summoning those animals and everything. 'Narwhal Blast'!"

"'Narwhal Blast'?"

"Yeah, like you shot whales but with horns. Imagine that! A huge whale with a sharp horn hitting your enemy!"

"… I'll think about it." Marco looked at her, a bit weirded out by the idea.

Star hummed to herself happily hoping to see a Narwhal Blast one day.

Sabrina looked over the note book and wondered. "How does that work anyway?" She had seen Marco use some magic before but still didn't know how it worked.

Marco tapped his chin, "It's hard to explain, even with the various explanations I've gotten from my mother, Glossaryck, Rhombulus and others, it's hard to put it into words. It's a very abstract idea."

Star and Janna both leaned in.

Marco scrunched his face as he tried to force the words in his mind, "The universe is large, larger than I think most could properly imagine. Magic is just one aspect." He held out the wand. "The wand is a tool that is deeply connected to this aspect and draws its energy into the world. Typically, you'd need to dive deep into the aspect, into magic, use your heart, your mind, your souls, your emotions all together and train to use magic, but given the nature of the wand acting as a magic catalyst, it eases the user in the process of drawing magical energy and shaping it into what you want." Marco explained methodically.

Both Star and Sabrina seemed curious, although Star clearly more so, despite both being seemingly confused. Janna on the other hand looked like she had a firmer grasp on what was being told.

"You need and idea and focus on giving it shape. Some spells have specific movements, specific words, and names to help shape the idea in your mind. If you mess up on the idea, it could come out terrible. Actually, a lot of things can mess up a spell."

"Wait. Does that mean anyone can use it? I mean, Brittney used it during the party and everything and she never had access to magic before that moment." Janna asked, curious of the workings of the occult unveiling in front of her.

"I don't know. Maybe…?" Marco replied unsure. "The wand draws out a lot of magic. I don't know much about how humans deal with magic, but perhaps the wand on its own can draw magic to use. It's one of the reasons people try and steal it, it's probably the most powerful magic item in the universe. As long as Brittney had a strong emotion and a strong idea, the spell could work. If she hadn't had a strong emotion… it might have gone badly." Marco cringed at the warning Glossaryck had given him.

Janna stared at the wand, Marco's grip grew tight on it.

"Why does it change when someone new holds it?" Star questioned Marco.

Marco thought about it for a second. "Magic is… weird. I think some of the magic seeps out and touches a person's inner self, the wand reacting to it when it comes in contact with a person's self."

Marco looked down at the wand in his hand's, he made sure to always keep in his mind the great power and responsibility that came with being its care taker. The wand was a double edge sword, it could defend as well as destroy and it was up to him to wield it correctly even at the potential threat. It also worried him that just like a regular sword, it was powerful, but really dangerous in careless hands.

He had to be on a constant guard. Like one of those trolls that guarded those ancient treasures in temples.

"Marco!" Star shouted at him after he'd been focused on the wand for a solid minute without talking.

"Ah!" Marco shouted, jolting behind and falling off his seat, hitting the ground and his wand went off, shooting a magic blast. It hit a nearby locker but quickly bounced off a few times down the hall.

After a moment, they heard a scream coming down the hall.

Marco rushed down the hall after the yelp. The girls followed him and reached their classroom as he stopped right before a green skinned troll.

"Miss Skullnick!" Marco shouted.

She rubbed her head, "What happened?"

The girls were a loss for words.

"Uh…" Marco began, "I might have turned you into a troll."

Skullnick looked at him with some disbelief. She got up and looked at her reflection in a window.

"I'm Hideous!" The teacher bellowed.

"Ah, okay, yeah, right." Marco sputtered. "I can fix this. Just try and stay calm. Take a few deep breaths and sit down for a moment. I'll be right back."

Marco lead her back to the table they were sitting back and let sit.

"Star, I need to borrow your scissors."

Star took out the scissors out, "Oh, you need to get you mom's help?" She gave him the scissors.

Marco paused, he would rather avoid showing his mess up to his mother, "No, I think I know someone closer that can help."

Marco tore a rift in and walked through it with Star following him.

The portal closed behind them.

Brittney arrived with her backpack. "Oh, Marco~! I'm ba-" She froze for a second spotted the troll. "Monster!" She started to smack the teacher with her bag.

0000

Star followed Marco into his room. "Wait, you can use it to other places in the same dimension? I thought it only worked for other dimensions." Star narrowed her eyes looking at the pair of scissors in his hands, a smirk forming in her face. "We could do all sort of things with these!"

Marco reached for his book and pulled it off the shelf, "Yes, it works on the same dimension, but I've always been told not overuse it." Marco fumbled with the scissors.

"Okay, I got it." Star took the scissors, a bit dejected but she quickly shrugged it off and opened another portal.

"Hurry we have to rush back to school!"

The pair walked through the portal as it closed behind them.

"Hm…" Buff Frog stared at them through the open window.

0000

The pair arrived and slammed the book on the table.

"Miss Wong! Stop it!" Skullnick slapped the bag away.

Janna was laughing uncontrollably and Sabrina was just barely holding her laughter.

"Marco! Monster!" Brittney pointed at her teacher.

"Brittney! Stop! That's Miss Skullnick! I turned her into a troll by accident." Marco quickly explained, opening the book.

"Oh…. Sorry." Brittney told her teacher, who seemed more annoyed than injured.

Marco flipped through the pages, finding the small denizen of the magic book snoring. "Glossaryck! I need your help."

"What?" Glossaryck quickly woke up. "Marco, I was taking a nap." Glossaryck looked around, he studied everyone around them taking them in slowly, Sabrina felt almost like the little man was looking right into her soul.

Star mumbled, "Blue pudding thief."

"Okay, why did you turn a human into a troll?"

"It was an accident. My wand… kinda went off…?" Marco replied, feeling guilty by the outcome.

He shrugged, "I guess it could be worse, at least trolls are a nice enough race, most of them are brave warriors and guards. Will be easy to get work."

"I need help changing Miss Skullnick back."

"Oh, that? I doubt you can do that."

"What?!" Marco and Skullnick both said at once.

"It might have been an accident but a thorough one. A stray random thought and a bit of magic can have such random effects. You turned her into a troll, down to the very being, everything except her mind has been changed. Normally such drastic changes would change her personality and mind too. Now any attempt to change her back would likely have negative effects on her psyche."

"What do you mean? Don't I just have to think of turning her back to normal?" Marco asked.

"That's the problem, Marco. What is this 'normal' you talk about?" Glossaryck said, floating closer to Ms. Skullnick. "A stray thought of a troll turned into this. The thought of a random troll transformed her body, her vessel into one LIKE a troll, but not A SPECIFIC troll. What you're suggesting would mean to use a stray thought of a person and transform her, which could radically alter her form. There is not much you can do about it."

"What if I think really hard of Ms. Skullnick before the transformation? Won't this bring her back?"

Glossaryck sighed and approached Marco. "Look, I can see you're trying, but no. This won't bring her back."

"How come?"

"Marco, listen. How well do you know her? Can you say you know every bit of her psyche and her body with impeccable precision?" Glossaryck asked, making Marco stutter a bit. "You don't know her fully. NO ONE knows themselves fully. Trying to reverse the spell as it is would not bring your teacher back. Instead, it would transform her into THE IMAGE YOU HAVE of her. If such a thing would happen then she wouldn't be herself anymore. The minuscule image you crafted based on your limited experiences with her would become her full self, losing any depth or other personality traits she may previously had. You should just get used to it."

Marco was speechless for a moment.

"He's not very helpful." Star pointed at him.

"Yeah, people do say that a lot." Glossaryck pulled out a burrito from somewhere and started to chomp on it. "Can I have my lunch now?"

"Glossaryck, isn't there anything to do? We can't just leave my teacher like this."

"Oh, there are a lot of things to do but I have a feeling you will have your attention elsewhere."

A portal formed behind them and Ludo and his goons arrived.

"Him again?!" Brittney yelled annoyed.

"Oh, the loud one." Ludo growled.

"Ludo, what are you doing here?" Marco questioned him.

"We have come to steal the wand while you are most distracted."

"I've been distracted a lot more than this."

"Yeah, like that cheese pants incident." Ludo remarked, his monsters snickering behind him.

"We agreed never to talk about that." Marco cringed, while Janna laughed in the background at the recollection of that day.

"Let's just get over this!" Ludo yelled. "Get the wand!"

The monsters rushed them.

"Ah!" Star jumped ahead, slamming her fist right into a monster.

Marco was about to rush in but was stopped by Glossaryck, "This seems like a good time to practice your spells."

"Right now? Really?" Marco complained.

"Yes, practicing your battle spells in an actual battle will let you see how they work in the field. Let's start with trying to block the next blow."

A bear monster rushed at Marco, "Crystal Shield Mark 4!"

In a flash of light, a shield made of crystal formed on Marco's arm blocking the attack.

The monster wailed, feeling his arm break.

"Ah!" Marco fell forwards as the shield was too heavy to carry, a moment later it broke apart.

"Okay, this one still needs work." Glossaryck criticized. "The overall structure is off, it's strong but it can't hold its shape. It also needs a new name."

"Told you!" Star jumped on the monster's shoulder smacking its face.

"Try something destructive." Glossaryck told Marco.

"Shimmering Destructo canon!" Marco yelled out and a ruby themed bazooka popped up. With a pull of the trigger, missiles flew out raining down on the monsters.

"Neat!" Star smiled with glee seeing the explosions around her.

"Okay." The little blue man continued, "let's try something in between for you. Try that leech spell I taught you."

"Forget the girl! Rush the prince!" Ludo ordered.

The monsters turned towards him all together to take him down.

Marco held out the wand. "Super Sonic Leech Bomb!"

Glowing leeches shot out attaching themselves to the monsters. All the monsters paused as the leeches began draining their energy and then they exploded.

One of the monsters tried grabbing Star to take her hostage.

"Protective Bubble!" Marco yelled out as he fired a spell at Star.

Before the monster could get to her, a pink bubble formed around her keeping her safe.

"Cool!" Star smiled, she ran the bubble over the monsters that were too slow to get out of the way.

"Okay, good, good. How about this time, something of your choice?" Glossaryck told. "Impress me."

"Ok. let me try something." Marco grabbed his notebook.

Glossaryck used this distraction to turn to the cheerleaders, "So, what are your intentions with Marco?"

"Intentions! I-wha-" Brittney stuttered as her face turned red.

"Uh, would you like a brownie?" Sabrina offered him on of the treats.

"Oh, I like you." With a wave of his hand one of the brownies floated over to him. He then turned his attention to Skullnick.

"So, you're one of his Earth teachers?" He chomped on the brownie.

"Uh, yes." Skullnick wasn't sure how to take any of this, especially after hearing all that was said about her.

"How's he doing?"

"Marco, is doing fine. He works hard, and studies. He just tends to freeze up if you put attention on him. I had him try to solve one of the problems in front of the class and he messed it up, and it was one he's been shown to be able to do. He just needs to work on his confidence."

"Yeah, I think so too. He's got the skills but if you put him under the spotlight he flounders. That's probably why his kingdom wide shield failed. That it might have been a bit much for beginner. And it was a spell inspired by a man-child with the intellect of an above average rock." Glossaryck almost spat the last sentence.

"What?"

"You should probably duck."

Before Skullnick could even ask about that a blue minotaur-esque monster was bounced off the bubble by Star and flew into the air striking the newly made troll.

Janna who'd been glancing at the open spell book asked, "Are you taking any other students?"

Mixing the Brownie into the burrito Glossaryck only said. "Not at the moment, I usually only deal with one student at the time."

"I got it!" Marco came rushing back with his note book. "Hey! Star buy me a moment."

"No problem!" Star shouted back as several monsters attacked the bubble not even making a dent.

"Okay, let's see what you got." Glossaryck waved Marco over to do his spell.

His wand began to glow as he held it aloft, there was a prickling on everyone's skin and they could smell the lightning and the rain as if a storm was approaching.

"Lupin storm!"

With a loud crack and blinding flash, lightning ruptured out. A defining roar made everyone except Glossaryck shudder.

Thunder manifested and shaped itself taking the form of a wolf. Slowly energy turned into fur and standing before them was a large majestic wolf with piercing blue eyes and snow white fur with black stripes.

The wolf turned and stared at Marco as if judging him, slowly the wolf moved and sniffed Marco, then it gave him a friendly lick.

"There, that's a good boy," Marco petted the wolf. "Okay, let's go fight those monsters."

The wolf just looked at Marco.

"It's not bad." Glossaryck confirmed. "Like the inspiration you took from the dire wolves. You didn't name it yet though, so it's not going to do what you say until you do so."

"Name it?" Janna asked,

"Yeah," Marco confirmed. "When you make creature spells you have to give them a name. Giving them a name binds them to me letting me control them and give them an identity. It's not finished until I give them a name."

"Most people just name them after the name of the spell, but Marco refuses to do that." Glossaryck nibbled on his snack.

"It just seems too impersonal." Marco commented. "Just gonna need another minute Star!" Marco yelled out to Star.

"No problem! I'm wearing them down." At this point the monsters were just tossing the bubble around playing volleyball with it.

Marco wondered what to name his new spell.

"Wolfy!" Janna offered.

"Salem!" Sabrina added.

"Taiga!" Brittney told them.

"Oh, I like that." Marco smiled, Brittney smugly smiling at the others that her choice was picked. "Okay, I name thee Taiga. Now, Taiga, go fight those monsters."

Taiga snarled as he turned to the monsters and let out a terrifying roar. The air shook around them as thunder shot down from the sky striking down the monsters.

Star looked around as the bubble popped, watching the now singed monsters twitching around her. "We won!"

"Good work Taiga!" Marco nuzzled the wolf like it was a trained dog.

Ludo pulled himself up. "Okay, I've had enough." Taking out his scissors he created another portal. "Everyone, let's get out of here." He kicked one of the downed monsters. "Get up."

Marco stared at the monster, suddenly very worried and panicking. "Is he dead?"

"No, he's just probably bleeding internally and BEING A TOTAL BABY ABOUT IT!" Ludo yelled at the near unconscious monster.

Soon enough the monsters started to flee into the portal. That's when Marco spotted Miss Skullnick flirting with one of the monsters, the very monster that had crashed into her.

"Oh, is this a love connection I see?" Star moved over to them. "Since we got you two together, any chance I can get my grade bumped into an A?"

"Honey, please! I'd give you an A-Plus if I was still a teacher. I'm setting sail with Captain Triceps here." Skullnick chuckled.

The monster just started babbling.

"What about my A?"

"Try studying." Skullnick suggested before stepping into the portal.

Star slummed over towards Glossaryck. "So, do you happen to have a spell that can make me good at math?"

"I'm afraid not," Glossaryck told him. "Hey, is it a human thing to fall for magical beings?"

"Ah, no, I don't think so. Why?"

Glossaryck just looked at the cheerleaders smiling at Marco as he played with Taiga like he was a giant puppy and how Janna joined in rubbing his belly. "Just something I've been wondering."

0000

The following day at school Marco got in front of the class, he felt it was at least his duty to tell them that their teacher wouldn't be coming back.

"So, after I turned her into a troll she ran away with a monster to another dimension."

The class was quiet for a moment before erupting into cheers.

"Okay, wasn't expecting that."

As Marco pondered the implications as a portal opened up and Miss Skullnick plopped out.

"Miss Skullnick?"

"He dumped me." Skullnick said bitterly. "I think. I don't know. I couldn't understand a word he was saying!"

"Uh, welcome back." Marco greeted her meekly.

Skullnick turned, eyes filled with rage. "Everyone get ready for the worst pop quiz if your lives!"

The entire class broke into groans.

0000

In Marco's room Glossaryck spoke into the mirror to Queen Angie, calling her up to give her a weekly progress report on Marco's training.

"Well, pretty quiet week. I've trained Marco with some battle spells, needs to practice a bit more to get the hang of them. He does seem to show a good control over his magic. Even a misfire blast was contained enough not to destroy the core of what was hit. And he managed to conjure a storm and turn it into one of his creature spells."

"That does sounds wonderful. I'm glad to hear my little boy is making progress."

"Yes, I must admit that sending him to Earth was a stroke of genius. He's really opening up and it's certainly helping him."

"So, he is making friends?" Angie asked hopeful.

"Yeah, he's gotten close to some people."

"That's wonderful, be sure to tell him he can bring his friends along to the ceremony next week."

"I'll be sure to do. I'm sure you'll love them." Glossaryck said with a knowing smirk.

* * *

 **Beta Notes: Hello again! I'm proud to say that this was proofread in record time. I received, read it and proofread it in less than 16 hours. (Take in consideration there is still housework, college assignments and whatnot on the way). The chapter being slightly shorter also helped, but that's not the main issue. This chapter may have been a slower one, but things are bound to pick up pace soon. I'm particularly excited with some upcoming chapter, although the one I'm looking forward the most may take a while, so I guess we all will have to wait. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter!**

* * *

 **Author's Notes: Everyone please applaud my beta for a quick turn around with this chapter. Okay, so next chapter will be something special, something different and I hope you like it. The next chapter will be one of the biggest differences in this Universe. The only clue I'll hand out is that we are gonna see someone you guys couldn't wouldn't expect to see so soon. So leave a review and tell me what you think and maybe guess whose gonna show up.**


	6. Chapter 6: Flagstruck

**Prince Marco Vs The Forces of Darkness**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Star vs the forces of evil.**

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Chapter 06: FlagStruck

Marco was actually happy that he was making some friends on Earth. When he found out that his mom was going to let him invite some friends to the castle for a ceremony, he was quick to invite them.

Marco's parents sent a carriage to pick them up, quickly arriving at his family's castle. It was bigger than any of them could have expected, it literally reached the clouds. Marco lead them to a sitting room while he got changed into his royal attire.

One of the servants, Manfred, brought them some tea and snacks.

Star made sure she had on one of her nice dresses. The way Marco made it out the entire ceremony wasn't a formal event requiring to get all dressed up, but Star made sure her blue dress looked nice. Sabrina wore a nice simple green dress. Janna didn't change her normal outfit, though Star did note that it looked a lot cleaner and her beanie seemed almost brand new. It smelled like there was the faint smells of that fabric softener that smelled like lemons and flowers.

Brittney went all out with a very fancy purple dress. Honestly, Star couldn't help but think Brittney did look a bit like a princess.

Star still wondered if they should have gotten more dressed up like Brittney, all fancy and everything since they were gonna meet royalty. The only royal they had meet was Marco and he was pretty laid back compared to what everyone thought of royalty.

She was a little nervous, unsure how Marco's parents would react to meeting them.

Soon enough the room doors opened up. They expected Marco but instead they found a woman with a crown wearing an elegant orange dress.

She gave them a warm smile, "You must be Marco's Earth friends, right? I'm so glad to meet you."

The four girls quickly got up trying to show the proper respect for a queen. Before they could react they found themselves all pulled into a big hug by the queen, "Thank you for being friends with him."

They gasped for breath not having expected the queen to be so strong, Star gasped, "Right, his family is really affectionate."

The queen let them go before turning to Star, "You must be Star Butterfly. Your family was so gracious in taking in my son while he's on Earth. He talks about you a lot. Thanks for being so nice to him and how you've been looking after him." Marco's mother looked at her with gratitude.

"Aw," Star couldn't help but blush a little. "Well, Marco has been making it super easy, sometimes it seems like he's taking care me."

Sabrina, still a little winded from the hug, fell to the floor.

The queen quickly gave her a hand and helped her up, "You must be Sabrina."

"Oh," Sabrina quickly fidgeted under the attention of the queen, "Thank you, your majesty."

"You can all just call me Angie. You're not citizens of Mewni, you're our guests! There is no need for you to be so formal, especially since you're my son's friends."

Sabrina blushed a little, "Oh, I see where your son got his sweetness from."

"Oh, thank you!" Angie beamed at the compliment.

Brittney cleared her throat getting her attention, "Greetings, I am Brittney Wong. It's a pleasure to meet you." Brittney bowed, remembering her internet research told her she should bow to a queen. She wanted to make a good first impression.

"Don't you just look lovely?" Angie clapped at the sight of Brittney's mannerisms, who looked slightly flustered in return.

"Uh, thank you."

"You look lovely enough to be a princess, you know?"

"Huh!" Brittney blushed, her mind racing. _'Is she hinting that I should ask her son out? Is she giving me her blessing? To marry him and give her three beautiful grandchildren, Serene,Melissa, and Albie. To rule this kingdom as fair and just rulers until one of our kids takes over?! Living the rest of golden years together in luxury watching our children flourish and prosper with their kingdom?!'_

"Is she okay?" Angie asked Janna, who looked at Brittney who was blushing madly as she mumbled to herself something Janna couldn't make out.

"I'm sure she's fine." She shrugged, later offering her hand. "Nice to meet you. I'm Janna."

"It's a pleasure." Angie gladly shook her hand.

"Yeah. So, you can do magic too?" Janna quickly asked.

"Yes," Angie gave her a quick nod. "It's a family skill," Angie chuckled to herself, sparks of magic flickering off her fingers. The sparks quickly turned into flower petals and danced through the air around the girls. They flew around the room before landing on Angie's free hand, forming a blooming flower. Then the flower dissolved as if it was never there.

The girls were at awe at the small display, Janna was the first one to speak up, "How did you do that?! Don't you need a wand to use magic?"

Angie shrugged, "Having a wand does make using magic a lot easier, but we only have one and Marco needs it to learn to control his spells. In time Marco will learn to use magic without assistance like I did."

The door opened again and Marco walked in now fully dressed in his prince clothes. "I found dad, he's finishing up with the sculpture but My mom-" Marco stopped to a halt after seeing his mother.

"Marco!" Angie exclaimed, rushing towards her only child.

"Mom!"

Mother and son quickly embraced, though they talked at least once a week through the mirror but this was first time in a while they're were there in person.

"Marco!" Angie cuddled her son. "I was just introducing myself to your 're all very lovely."

"Thanks, I guess..." Marco replied somewhat flustered.

Angie gave the girls another glance before turning to Marco. "Marco," She approached the young prince and spoke in a more reserved tone. "Is there anything you want to tell me, son?" Angie raised an eyebrow and glanced at the girls again, "Anything you need to ask me?"

"Uh… I don't think so?" Marco replied, confused by her oddly specific question.

Angie's smile shrunk a little, but shook it off her head. "Okay, then" Angie shrugged, "Did you see your father?"

"Yes, he'll be here in a minute. He's just putting the finishing touches on the statue."

Sabrina glancing at Marco approached him as she noticed something, "You have something on your cheeks."

The girls took notice of the Diazes birthmarks, Marco's rubies and Angie's suns.

"Ah, yes," Marco scratched the back of his head, mildly embarrassed. "I wear makeup on Earth to keep them hidden so I don't stand out."

"Yeah, I knew about that." Star told the others apologetic, "Sorry… I promised him I wouldn't tell anyone."

"Don't worry," Sabrina shrugged off his concern, "I- I- I think they look cute." A small blush forming on her cheeks as she spoke.

"And what's with the get up?" Janna motioned to his outfit.

"Oh, this is my royal outfit, this is a special occasion so I had to dress up." He motioned to his attire. "What do you think?"

Janna smiled, "Well, you certainly look like royalty now."

Brittney blushed brightly, "Yeah, you do, you look really c-"

"Awesome!" Star interrupted, giving a thumbs up.

Marco smiled, happy to get his friend's approval.

The door opened, revealing the King dusting off his hands, "I'm finished, just in time too." He looked at the girls gathered, "You must be Mijo's new friends, I'm so glad to meet you."

Janna looked at the broad shoulder king and then at the somewhat scrawny prince, smirking at him. "Your future looks good."

Marco quirked an eyebrow, unsure what she meant.

After introductions the group headed out of the courtyard and outside the Castle where several nobles and peasants had gathered.

The royal family, their guest and a few guards climbed onto the stage next to a large statue covered with a huge tarp.

Janna had been asking Marco all sort of things, curious of his unusual background. "So, your dad doesn't have those cheek symbols. What's the deal with that?"

"It's a family trait that runs in my mom's side of the family. It's a sign that we have royal blood and the magical prowess to protect the kingdom."

Star, albeit slightly oblivious to her surroundings, heard murmurs from the crowd nearby.

"…Is she the new princess?"

"Are they finally getting a proper princess?"

"Which one? The one with the hat or the blonde or the one in green?"

"I think it's the one in purple."

"I don't know, I heard they're from Earth. I don't know what royalty there looks like."

"About time. They're finally replacing that good-for-nothing prince."

Star was about to say something when Brittney interrupted her train of thought. "What's this ceremony about anyway?" Brittney asked.

Marco mulled over the question for a while before replying. "Years ago, back when my grandmother was queen and my mother was around my age, the kingdom was at war with monsters. The war was ended when my grandmother signed the peace accords, although there were monsters that didn't agree." Marco slightly winced at this point. "After the accords were signed, a giant monster with strange powers attacked the castle. My grandmother was recovering from an attack that happened a few days before, so she couldn't fight that monster."

Marco took a short pause, his friends waiting expectantly for the continuation of the events, Janna particularly more attuned than the others. "My mother was my age… she barely started learning how to use the wand and had no idea how to use it for battle. If she went out to fight it… I wouldn't be here." He shuddered at the thought. His voice lit up shortly after, "Then, a hero stood up and single handedly fought off the monster that our whole army was having trouble holding back. She gave her life stopping it, but doing so the other monsters retreated and the kingdom was allowed to live in peace. This ceremony is to remember her bravery and sacrifice." He finished up.

"Today we come to remember Mewni's champion." Angie started out her speech.

She spoke mostly the same story that Marco told them, although adding some details about watching the fight, how every blow traded was epic and the castle shook from the battle. How every step the giant monster took twisted and warped the ground, at time seemingly vanishing to reappear closer. How the monster and warrior both vanished in a flash of light. In the end they vanished without leaving so much as a body to bury.

Rafael removed the tarp showing a large statue of the warrior.

"My husband has crafted this marvelous statue for this ceremony."

They all clapped at the reveal, admiring the craftsmanship. "Let's have a moment of silence." Angie spoke, the noise dying down.

The girls looked on at the warrior with long twin pigtail done with buns, with a sword in her hand. The girls were a little surprised at the statue. She looked barely older than them, maybe 17 years old at the most.

A few moments have passed before the queen raised her voice once more. "This should be enough." Angie spoke, "Mina Loveberry lived in the moment, she loved life and she sacrificed so much so we could enjoy it. She wouldn't want us to focus too much the past. Today we shall indulge in Mina's favorite game! Everyone please pick up your flags and head over to the hill."

The crowd cheered and began to move out, Marco jumped from his seat and cheered too.

Angie's hand held him in the spot. "Marco, no. You are still too young to play flags."

"What?" Marco turned at her surprised. "Mom, I have the wand now. I'm old enough to wield the most powerful magical artifact in the universe but not to play a game?"

"Yes, that's how it is. Until I say you're old enough, you're not allowed to play it."

Marco didn't even have time to sulk over it as both magic users suddenly tensed up.

"Is something wrong?" Rafael noted their reaction.

"Everyone, stand behind me!" Angie growled, Her expression turned harsh as she moved before her family.

As Marco took out his wand Rafael motioned the girls to go behind him.

Magic began to flicker at Angie's hands, "Guards! Remove everyone from here immediately!"

The guards quickly cleared everyone out. Angie kept her eyes at the sky right above them her, husband leading the group away as she kept her guard up, sensing that weird disturbance and making sure the group was protected.

"What's going on?" Star questioned Marco.

"Something is coming." Marco tensed up, "Something HUGE is-"

The sky ripped apart and a ball of fire landed nearby.

Marco grabbed his wand ready to summon up another shield, but his mother held out her hands weaving a spell. As the fireball hit the ground, a bubble formed around it sealing up the impact. A few moments later she let the bubble pop and as the flames died down it revealed the body of a dead monster.

Angie's eyes went wide, "I know that monster… That's the one I saw … right here in this field when…"

A sword tore through the monster's body, shocking everyone. From the inside, a purple haired warrior tore her way out. "Ha! Take that, you big oaf!" She yelled at the giant corpse she was standing on.

Her body was covered in monster guts, she wiped away from her eyes, and placed her hands on her hips, full of pride. "The castle is still standing. Good."

"Mina!" Angie let out.

"That's my name." Mina smiled before slipping down the dead monster.

0000

Minutes later Mina was done cleaning up and now wearing a bathrobe, standing in the sitting room with the others.

Angie was talking to a crystal ball with a strange looking skull projected in it.

"Omni. What's this all about?" Angie spoke mildly irritated. "Our greatest warrior disappears through space and time and you never told us anything? We thought she was dead!"

"Queen Angie, the multiverse is too large to keep track of every minute detail. If I had to notify every single time-space anomaly to every single version of you, I wouldn't have time to do my job."

"Well, we are part of the Magic High Commission, a head's up on these things would be nice" She replied.

"Look, I'm sorry, but my duty as a member of the Commission is to watch over the multiverse, prevent it from shattering with anomalies and help the Mewmans understand how it works when needed. If you want, we can go over this."

Angie looked over at Marco's friends and Mina on the other room, before letting out a deep sigh.

"We will talk about this later, Omni."

"As you say, Queen Diaz."

Angie approached Mina, who slurped her tea and analysed her. "So you really are little Angie all grown up." The warrior walked around Angie studying her further.

"Yup, it's been a few years."

Mina turned to the crystal ball, "Any chance at getting me back?"

Omni sighed, "Sorry, but no. You never came back and we can't change that fact. Changing established events could cause unpredictable changes, specially with a time warping monster on the equation. The timeline could even collapse upon itself."

"Yeah, that sounds bad." Mina took another slurp of her drink. She stared at her empty teacup.

"Here, let me get you a refill!" Marco practically tripped over himself refilling her cup.

"Thanks!" She looked Marco over and then glanced at Angie, "The cheek marks?"

"That's my son, Marco."

"Son?" Mina looked confused for a second.

"Yes," Marco blushed, "I'm Prince Marco Ubaldo Diaz and it's a pleasure to meet you. My mom has told me so much about you." Marco gushed over the warrior.

"Is Marco acting strangely?" Sabrina noted.

Star just smiled, " He's got a crush."

"What?!" The other girls almost shouted, but luckily no one seemed to notice.

"Yeah, Marco's friend Tom told me he had a celebrity crush of sorts on a Mina Loveberry. I didn't think much of it at the time, specially after hearing today that she was thought to be dead, but now Marco actually got to meet her!" Star's voice grew excited.

The other three girls were less excited.

Angie hummed to herself, thinking about their predicament. "What are you gonna do now?"

Mina thought for a moment before giving a flat shrug. "I dunno. It looks like a lot of things have changed since I've been gone. I could still be your personal warrior if you'd still have me."

Angie smiled, and snapped her fingers in realization. "I think I have something that might be perfect for you. Your skills in combat have always unmatched, specially with the sword. Since the magic wand turned into a sword since my son got it, we've discussed the possibility of finding him someone to train him with."

"Sword training?" Mina quickly connected the dots.

"YES!" Marco let out louder than he intended, "Uh, I mean... Yes." he held out his wand, "Since the wand took the shape of a sword we've thought it might be a sign that I should take up the sword. I mean, I already know how to fight since Rhombulus has been teaching me, but he's not great with weapons."

"It would be fairly easy, give you chance to acclimate to this time. You'd just have to go to Earth." Angie complemented.

"Earth?" Mina seemed more confused by the second.

"Yes, Marco is practicing his magic on Earth. It's fairly safer there and there is no magic, so it should help him get used to the mundane and a safe place to practice. You could go there to teach him and keep an eye on him from time to time. My little boy is very safety conscious so you don't have to worry much about him. Just some safety measures so he's ready if anyone tries to attack him." She held him closely in a tight hug.

"Mom!" Marco bemoaned, embarrassed from the public affection of display in front of his idol.

"Sure, sounds fun." Mina readily agreed. Finishing her drink, she quickly got up. "When do I go?"

"First, let's go over some details." Angie replied, motioning her to discuss Marco's training routine.

0000

A few days later, River was eating a sandwich and watching some TV. He got out of work a bit early and he seemed to have the house to himself. He was ready to relax before the kids got out of school. They would arrive soon so he'd make the most of his time before they went hyper all over the house.

He grabbed his sandwich ready to take a big bite into it, relishing the quietude of the moment and the many layers of yumminess of his treat to come.

"Ah!" The door burst open and Marco ran into the house and went straight upstairs.

Star walked through the door sweating and gasping for breath.

"Star, did something happen?"

Star caught her breath, "Marco... Ran all the way home…. He wanted to... be here before…" River handed her his drink which she gladly took. "Thanks, Marco rushed out of class as soon as he could." She took another sip from the beverage. Now feeling much better, she got all giddy. "Today is his first of sword fighting lessons with his crush~"

River chuckled, "Ah, I see, that Mina girl you told us about. Makes sense. There are few things that will get a young man moving as fast as a chance to see a girl they like."

"Speaking from experience, pops?"

River chuckled with a mildly awkward expression. "I might have been a bit over eager when trying to impress your mother."

Marco rushed down stairs now in some workout clothes, mostly sweats and a gray shirt.

"Is she here yet?" he asked excitedly.

"Marco, we ran all the way here, we got here plenty of time before she arri-"

"Hello!" Star turned around to find the purple haired warrior standing in the doorway.

Now not covered in monster gut, Mina looked like a fancy royal guard. She had on a military cyan jacket and skirt. The jacket even had some fancy shoulder tassels and a cute purple bow with a heart on it. She also had a brand new helmet with space for her hair buns to poke out and she had two cute bunny shaped earrings. After Star motioned her to come in, she waltzed inside carrying a pair of wooden swords.

"Mina!" Marco squealed.

"My prince!" Mina saluted him.

"You don't have to do that, just call me Marco." He readily dismissed the formal treatment, unsure if his flustering was caused by the undesired formality or by receiving special treatment from his idol.

Mina on the other hand just shrugged it off. "Sure, Marco. Are you ready?"

"Yes!"

0000

River and Star settled on the lawn furniture to watch his training unfold. River shared his sandwich with Star as Marco and Mina prepared themselves.

Mina removed her jacket and tossed it onto a lawn chair. Marco gulped, staggered by his mentor. Mina, now wearing a simple white shirt, was only a bit older than him and his acquaintances, but she definitely more… _mature_ , as he noticed.

He looked away trying not to stare at her figure. Being raised to be a proper prince, he tried to treat her with all the respect she was due and more due to his admiration towards her, though his teenaged hormones were not helping.

"Okay, Prince-y!" Mina let out, taking Marco out of his thoughts. "Let's start your training! Since the wand took the shape of a sword, maybe you got a heart a warrior waiting to bust out. We'll put this theory up to the test!" She said, picking up a wooden longsword and handing him a much smaller shortsword.

He picked up and tried getting into a stance while Mina examined him.

"Okay, what are we gonna do?" Marco readied himself. "Show me the proper form to hold a sword?"

"Nope! There are two ways to teach someone how to use the sword. One, is practicing movements over and over until they become second nature over years, which is _slow and boring_." She said with a visible irk in her voice.

"The other is just fighting as much as you can until you pick it up. The second one we are gonna go with, which is much faster and will help you with things regular training wouldn't do, such as improvisation, combat flow and more importantly: How to handle things outside your comfort zone." She held out the sword, "So if you don't want to get hurt, get ready to defend yourself! GUARD!" Mina shouted, quickly swinging her sword towards him, nearly knocking him over the fence.

The fight was easily one sided, Mina had years of practice and Marco had about five minutes or so. Both River and Star were wincing at what was basically Marco getting smacked with a wooden sword.

River felt some pity for Marco. Seeing him try his best made him think back of his time trying to impress Moon and that obvious boy's pride at stake. He knew from first hand experience that guys did some really stupid and painful things to look good in front of girls they liked. It still didn't make it any easier seeing his daughter's friend being beaten up by his crush.

"That definitely gotta hurt..." Star murmured to herself before raising her voice. "Is this really necessary?" She asked, slightly concerned.

"Definitely!" Mina said with conviction. "I go to the school of Hard Knocks, there is no better teacher than experience. No better teacher than actually fighting. Practicing only makes good presentations. Actual combat experience makes a warrior."

"Maybe you should hold back a little."

"I am," Mina chuckled at the comment, "if I wasn't, he'd be a pile of goo. I can't really hold back any further than this. If he's gonna make any progress he's got to learn to fight back and fast, he'll be king sooner than later after all. He can't afford to slack off, specially when no one knows when he might get attacked. He needs to be ready."

"But-"

"It's okay, Star." Marco interrupted her, steadying the sword. "She's right, let's keep going."

"You have guts. I like that." Mina pointed out, causing Marco to briefly blush. "Now, show me what you got. The best part of combat training is using your own natural skill to fight."

Mina struck first, hitting him once at his left shoulder and then again at his right. She went to strike him on his head but something happened, Marco raised sword and blocked it for the first time since their training began.

Mina smirked before pushing forwards and striking again, Marco rolled to the side to dodge the attack. He jolted up and charged at Mina who was ready to meet sword with sword. Marco forced her sword away and made an opening rushing forwards. His heart pumping and adrenaline rushing he pushed her down and pinned her.

Marco gulped realizing their position, but Mina smiled satisfied, "Well done, Marco!"

"Really?"

"Yup! For a first battle, those fighting moves you showed just now were pretty good. You got potential, especially given how well your instincts went when you've got so little training. You also have shown signs of proficient hand-to-hand fighting! That's good! Now we just have to get you to used to holding that sword. When you improve your skills, brandishing a sword will become second nature!"

Marco smiled at that, it felt so good to have someone he idolized give him words of praise.

"Now, do you mind getting off me?" Mina deadpanned.

"Oh, sorry!"

Marco quickly got off her and soon after that they stopped training for the day. Mina brought over a magical balm to heal his bruises afterward. Marco couldn't help but blush wildly as she rubbed it on his skin.

0000

While fun at first, Star was getting annoyed over the following days. She at first thought it was cool that Marco was taking up the sword, but it quickly got boring every day right after school rushing home so he could practice swordsmanship. Ever since she got the scissors, she'd ask Marco to take her to other dimensions to explore, going to all sort of places, from fantastic bazaars or wild landscapes to several other dimensions pony head told her about.

Now she spent most of her afternoons watching Mina and Marco spar. It was novelty at first but that got over real quick.

It really unnerved her to watch Marco get smacked around and ask for more. Although it eased up a bit after a week, when Marco finally started to show some more progress. Getting hit by wooden sword was a great motivator to learn how to dodge. His reflexes were getting faster and he moved more naturally with the sword.

Marco was learning how to block attacks and dodge them more effectively. He even managed to parry some attacks every now and then, getting closer each time to land a hit but Mina was just too experienced and always countered effortlessly.

Star did hope Marco would hit her just once so they could hang out.

Marco collapsed onto the ground, his body covered with sweat and bruises as he tried to catch his breath.

Mina leaned on her sword and wiped a bit of sweat from her forehead. "You've gotten better, you might be able to land a blow on someone, not me, but someone." She jokingly stated, offering a hand.

Marco chuckled a bit, taking her hand and getting up, Mina noticing his subtle wince as she grabbed his hand. After taking a quick look at his bruised figure, she thought for a bit.

"You're doing well so far, but in the end, my training regime may still be a bit too much for you."

"Huh?" Marco looked at her slightly confused. "What do you mean?"

"Well, just look at yourself, Marco. We have been going at this for weeks, yet you're still getting several bruises after every training section. I guess even holding back, I may be a bit too much for you." She said, Marco looking slightly disappointed by her statement. "Oh, don't worry, Marco. You've made amazing progress these weeks! It's only that you're simply too inexperienced. You've got a good grip on the basics now, but your body is not used to this level of punishment. If you keep this rhythm every day you'll may even get a serious injury."

"Wait, that means training is over? But we barely started!"

"What? Pffft…" Mina scoffed at the thought. "No, training is not over, Marco. You just need a lighter training for now. Perhaps instead of daily, we can make it weekly, so you can better recover from our training sections while your body toughens up from it's squishy state." Mina poked Marco's flimsy arm, causing him to feel even more self conscious than usual. "You should get some rest, plus you probably have other things to do." She said, picking up the training gear to go back to Mewni as usual.

Marco slightly panicked, it meant he wouldn't be able to spend as much time with her.

"Mina!" He blurted out on impulse.

She immediately turned her head around in reflex. "Yes?" She promptly replied, looking at the now unnerved mewman prince.

"Uh..., ah, do you want to do something tomorrow? You know, together?"

"What?"

"I mean, you've been so great being my teacher and since we're not going to train tomorrow, I thought I could thank you properly." He scratched the back of his head, swallowing hard. "How about I take you to get something to eat and maybe we could do something fun together? I could show Earth to you and where all the good things are around here."

Mina studied the prince for a while, before giving an enthusiastic smile. "I suppose that would be fine if you don't mind showing me around."

Marco smiled broadly, "Yes! It won't be any trouble."

Fetching her dimensional scissors, she picked up her training supplies and opened a portal. "I'll be looking forward to it!" She said excitedly, before hopping into the swirling vortex. Marco took a deep breath, leaning on the house wall, and smiled a dopey grin.

"Did you just ask your crush on a date?!" Star jumped from nearby.

"What?! No! It's definitely not a date! I'm just showing her around Earth! As a favor!" Marco blushed brightly.

"Uh-hum…" Star smirked, "Riiiight... not a date."

Star remembered what Tom had told her, that if Marco wanted to date someone he'd have to get his mom's permission. Star didn't think it would be hard for them to get permissions since Mina was the Hero of Mewni.

"Besides, why would the greatest warrior of Mewni want to go on a date with me?" Marco asked, insecurities apparent in his tone.

"Well, Duh! I don't know... prince of Mewni? Even so, you're a great guy, Marco. You're kind, sweet, caring, brave and a cute guy who happens to have awesome magic and now is learning how to swordfight. Mina or any girl would be lucky to go on a date with you."

Marco blushed a little, not expecting the praise. "Thanks Star." he smiled at her.

Star smiled back, when a plan struck her she would make sure that their "not date" went off smoothly. "So what are you hoping for this 'not date'?" Star asked, drawing quotation marks with her fingers.

"I don't know, I would just love getting to know her better, you know."

0000

The following day, Star nibbled on her donut, Brittney, Sabrina and Janna gathered around her at the donut shop.

"Okay, Star what's the big deal?" Janna asked, leaning on the table and picking a few donuts.

"How do you even have my number?" Brittney pointed out.

Sabrina tried not to get Brittney's attention.

"The big deal is that Marco is going on a date with Mina!" Star shouted excitedly.

"Date?" The three looked at a Star with conflicting emotions, each face adorned with a more troubled expression.

"Yeah! Well, it's not an official date, Marco is just showing her around but it's totally a date. Can you believe it? He's got a crush on his idol and he gets to go on a date with her!"

Brittney's eyes twitched as she glared at Star, who obliviously went through with her train of thought.

"The plan goes like this: we'll follow them around and make sure it goes right. I helped him come up with some places to visit so I know where he's going. It's all pretty simple so nothing should go wrong but just in case he needs help we can be there to sort things out."

Star looked back at the group, unsure what to make of their expressions. Sabrina looked conflicted, Janna had her arms crossed with a hard expression on her face, and Brittney looked like she was bottling in her frustrations.

"And is not just an excuse to spy on him?" Janna questioned Star.

"I get it, it seems like we're being invasive or whatever." Star told them, "But Marco's had a crush on her for a long time and even idolized he's got a chance to get to know her and to show her who he is. Imagine how that would be, liking someone and finally getting a chance to know them." Star concluded, noticing the girls giving her some odd looks.

"Well, it would be really good for him, you know?" Star said, trying to shrug off the girl's response.

Star glanced outside, finding Marco and Mina walking along. "There they are!" Star pointed out. Mina still wore her helmet, but wasn't wearing her military uniform. Instead, a blue dress with a bunny on it with a purple sash around her waist and long white gloves gave her a more relaxed vibe.

"They're coming!" Star said all giddy, "I told them to start their day with donuts. Now are you all in on helping me?" She asked.

A short silence ensued, no one pretty sure what to say.

"...If it will make Marco happy." Sabrina finally said softly.

0000

The girls went to the far end of the shop, eavesdropping on them as soon as they arrived. Marco got them a dozen donuts to share and they had breakfast together.

Mina adored the sweet pastries and quickly gobbled them down with near reckless abandon.

Star had always had a sweet tooth but had noticed that Mewmen adored sweets. Her mom suggested that it might have something to do with corn syrup.

Marco cleared his throat as he thought of something simple to talk about. Star told him to keep things light and just try to get to know each other.

"So, what do you think about Earth so far?" Marco asked her as he picked out another donut.

"Hm?" Mina swallowed the donut, "Well, it's pretty different from Mewni. No manticores or platypus bears to fight, people look at you weird if you start an argument with a dog and everything seems so boring sometimes… but I guess it's peaceful." She commented, picking up another donut and looking at it briefly before gulping it down. "There are also a lot of tasty food. Oh! And indoor plumbing! Have you seen that?!"

"Yes! The toilet it's amazing!"

Star facepalmed still not understanding why he found the toilet so interesting.

0000

Mina and Marco walked around the city, Marco showing her everything that he knew about. They had stopped by the local mall with Marco insisting on getting her a few things as thanks for the lessons. Mina herself got a new pair of boots and a few new dresses. Marco picked up some more hoodies.

Eventually they found themselves walking in the park sitting in the swing seats, Mina swung herself around a few times before getting dizzy and falling into a mud pit. Marco led her to the bench to rest and clean herself up.

After resting for a bit they looked at the horizon and the hill a short distance away. They had talked about all sorts of things, their date going rather smoothly to his satisfaction.

As she finished cleaning another mud smudge from her face, Marco asked her. "Is there anything you'd like to do?"

"Hm?" Mina looked on, thinking for a split-second. "I would like to play a game of Flags."

"Flags?"

"Yes, I haven't gotten to play for so long. Even before I got hurled into the future-present...? Tenses are weird." She finished her sentence with a shrug, trying not to think of the time gap much further, which a slightly confused Marco could agree on the sentiment.

He looked around before pointing at a nearby hill. "I could make us some flags and we could play over there."

Mina frowned for a second and crossed her arms. "But Flags is so dull with just two people, we need more players."

"I'll call Star, she knows lots of people, so I'm sure she can get some more players." Marco took out the cell phone and quickly called her number.

The familiar melody of "Space Unicorn quickly sprung from nearby, causing Marco to look around for the source.

Suddenly Star sprung from a nearby bush. "Oh, Hey Marco! Fancy to see you here!"

Marco was slightly surprised and somewhat weirded out by her sudden appearance, but paid no further attention to it. Instead, he asked her to call everyone she could and invite them to the mewman game. Marco was surprised at how fast Janna, Brittney and Sabrina arrived. Marco couldn't help but be touched how fast his friends arrived for him.

0000

In less than a half hour Star had managed to get several dozen people to show up. As they all got ready at the bottom of the hill, Marco created several flags with his wand for everyone. His own red flag had his family's crest, while Mina's had the mark of the knights of Mewni. Star's pink flag had a butterfly with a star and a heart on each side. Janna was pretty happy with her customized flag with a skull.

Honestly, people did like the touch of getting their own flags that was personalized for them.

Justin looked at Marco and asked, "Okay, so how do we play this game?"

Marco cleared his throat looking over at Mina who was bouncing on her heels ready to start, "The game is pretty simple, everyone races up towards the hill. The first person to reach the top and plant their flag wins."

"Simple enough" Janna interjected, positioning herself for a sprint.

Sabrina raised her hand. "Are there any other rules?"

"No, that pretty much it. Everything is allowed, the contestants are pretty much encouraged to slow down their opponents by any mean necessary so keep on your toes."

Marco positioned and took his wand in his hands. "Super Shadow Ninja-Nacho devastation!"

The little nacho ninja popped up, "Hey Will. Stay here and hand out some cookies for the drop-outs." Marco ordered, causing the chip to bow to his summoner and position himself near the starting line.

"Maybe we should have a prize." Mina spoke up.

"A prize?" Marco mused out loud, "What do you have in mind?"

"At the Academy we'd wager favors, the winner gets to request something from one of the losers. One request they have to fulfill."

"Okay, that sounds good. Anyone against it?"

The crowd gathered had no qualms about it and some were even excited. It seemed fun regardless of reward, but a magical prince obeying one of their whims was an opportunity too good to pass it up.

Everyone quickly got in position, eager to play the game and looking forward to seizing the opportunity of a random whim from their fellow rivals and the magical prince.

"Ready? 3, 2, 1, Go!" Marco called out and soon the group raced uphill.

Three seconds in and Sabrina tripped over her own feet. As she laid on the ground she found the nacho chip gently patting her head and offering her a cookie.

"Thank you."

Everyone else continued on, the most athletic taking a quick lead and the less physically gifted pushing each other trying to slow their opponents down.

Star didn't really want anything so she stayed behind Marco hoping to give him a chance to win. She figured Marco would try to use this as a chance to impress Mina and asked her for a real date.

At that moment she spotted Janna and Brittney shoving each other as they ran up.

"I'm getting that request from Marco!" Brittney yelled trying to shove Janna away.

"Over my undead body!" Janna pushed her back.

"Hm?" Star mused to herself, "I wonder what they want so badly."

As Star mused she heard Marco call out, "Levitato!"

She looked to see Marco ahead of everyone except Justin who was now captured in a green beam of energy from Marco's wand.

Marco huffed as he flung Justin back down the hill.

"You used magic against him!" Star exclaimed, startled as she watched Justin flying down the hill.

"He did say anything goooooes!"Justin echoed out as he fell down.

Will duplicated himself into hundreds, the tiny crowd catching the football player and handing him a cookie. "Cool! I got a cookie!"

Star was about to call Marco out on doing something so unfair when she spotted Mina rip a huge rock from the ground and hurl it at the people right behind her. A pair of boys, one with red hair and one with glasses, Star couldn't recall their names or even talking to them, run down the hill as a boulder rolled behind them.

"That's a bit-!" Star didn't even finish her sentence as more people started to catch up to Marco.

"Seedling Traps!" Marco waved his wand, magic sprinkling on the ground.

"Oh no!"Star panicked, recalling Marco practicing this spell before.

The seeds dug themselves into the ground and Star and some racers rushed passed them. Others were not so lucky as the seeds sprouted and huge vines shot out of the ground capturing anyone close to them and hurling them down the hill.

Will and his clones quickly caught those before hitting the ground.

Marco slowed down to fire spells as those who got close. Several people got caught and tossed down.

"For America!" A man dress like a cowboy waving an American flag raced up hill.

"Crystilization!"

He was quickly captured in crystal and a bald eagle decided to perch on him.

Janna and Brittney both stopped as they bumped into someone without realizing it, they found themselves in front of Mina. "Sorry about this but I gotta weed out the competition. I'll go easy on you." She cracked her knuckles, intimidating the human duo.

Effortlessly the warrior picked up both girls and hurled them down straight at the bottom of the hill.

"Aaaaah!" Both girls crashed into Will and his net made of clones. Both shuddered holding onto each other for comfort. As soon as they opened her eyes, they saw Will handing them their cookies.

"Lupin Storm!" Marco yelled out.

Taiga materialized as turned into thunder and rushed into the sky, with a massive roar he fell back down arc around the hill like it was fence.

"Lava Tremor!" Behind him the ground ruptured revealing a chasm of lava.

Star looked around shocked at what she was seeing, Mina wasn't even trying to run she was just grabbing people and hurling them down. She found Marco blasting spells that either froze people or out right tossed the people down.

Never in a million years she would have thought the safety prince would do something like this, sure Marco planned for his spell to catch anyone he tossed down but he was hurling people and trapping them in crystal.

Far ahead, Mina and Marco faced each other. "Looks like its down to us." Mina smiled, "How about we go all out? No holding back and may the best person win."

"Sounds good." His wand glowed, he didn't care about the request, only interested in showing Mina that he could stand on her level and was worth to spend time with.

A golden glow surrounded Mina and suddenly all her muscles expanded, becoming incredibly burly and hovering.

"Wow..." Marco's eyes glimmered, "You're REALLY buff!"

Using the distraction Mina slammed him with her flag hurling him back. Marco tried to stop his fall by stabbing his flag into the ground. Marco took off his hoodie and wrapped it around the pole ready to charge again. He hurled himself at Mina delivering a spin kick to her side.

"Marco! What the-" Star was at a loss for words, they were really going at it. It looked like they were really trying to hurt each other.

Star had to do something, seeing the thunder arc again she hurled her metal flag at it. "Taiga catch!"

The metal struck the electric burst and suddenly the wolf grabbed the pole and brought it back to Star.

"Good boy, now, fetch!" Star hurled it down the hill and the wolf followed.

Star rushed along finding a path in the lava made of a few stones to cross to the other side.

0000

"I repeat magic is real." A police officer on a scooter reported on his walkie.

A lady with her baby asked him, "Shouldn't you stop them?"

"Ah, well, there are now laws against magic, so it's out of my jurisdiction." The officer scooted away shortly after shrugging off the conflict nearby.

The losers of this contest looked up to the battle was taking place.

"Doesn't this seem off?" Sabrina pointed out.

"Yeah, this doesn't look like something my Marco would do." Brittney pointed out.

"Yeah," Janna agreed, "this is too hardcore for-wait, _YOUR_ Marco?"

A huge explosion broke the air, Marco had just blown up a part of the hill loose and using a tornado spell to hurl it at the warrior.

Those below could only watch in shock as Marco grew relentless in his duel with Mina.

Mina somehow grabbed the tornado and tossed it to the side. The crowd grew desperate as they found themselves in the receiving end of the avalanche. As the rocks fell a roar broke out and thunder shot out smashing the bolder and dozen of clones cut the remaining rocks into dust, narrowly saving the eliminated competitors.

"Yeah, that does seem a bit much." Will muttered putting away his sword.

"Especially for him," Taiga agreed chewing on the flag.

"Wait, you can _talk_?!" Janna was shocked.

"Yeah, why wouldn't we?" Will shrugged, taking his small sword in hands and looking at the duel unfolding above them uphill.

None of the girls really knew how to answer that, Janna each time growing increasingly interested on those spells.

0000

Star barely dodged the rocks and she clung to the ground and was relieved to see the spells had prevented anyone from getting hurt.

She had to stop Marco before he did something he'd regret and someone got hurt.

Mina pulled out her sword and swung it at Marco who barely dodged it. Marco tossed his flag to the side. "Bring it on!"

They were so close to the end they couldn't stop now. Marco summoned his crystal shield and struggled to hold it up. Three hits from the sword his shield fell apart.

"You can do better than that!" Mina's voice rang out as she swung her sword at him. Marco held out his wand trying to come up with the right spell, then something inside of him clicked. His eyes flashed and a spell came to mind, "Solaris Sword!"

The wand flipped in his hand and transformed, the sword grip grew and the scabbard was engulfed in a reddish energy that looked like a blade forged from a solar flare. With a thunderous clash sword meet sword.

"Now that's more like it!" Mina's voice boomed, echoing with intensity as she stared at Marco, a smirk forming on her face.

No words were said, only blades clashed, each blow met and countered.

"Let's see if you can actually land a blow." Mina taunted Marco.

The sword seemed to grow brighter as Marco channeled more magic into it. He gave his all and swung the sword again, but this time it sliced through Mina's sword. Mina discarded the broken weapon just as Marco swung his blade down at her, Mina in a last ditch effort caught the blade between her hands. She was forced back onto the ground just barely holding the magical blade back.

"Marco! Stop!" Star's voice rang out.

Star huffed as she finally reached them, "Stop! Whew... That was a tough climb…"

"Star?" Marco blinked, losing focus of the spell and now looking at his fatigued friend.

"Marco, look around! Look at what you have done! This isn't you."

Marco paused as he looked around, there was now a river of lava, a ring of scorched ground, wild vines slapping anything that close growing out of the ground, several people trapped in crystal peppered the hill, and his friends and classmates at the bottom of the hill having been tossed down there.

His wand completely returned to normal as he examined the damage.

"Yeah, I guess we did get carried away." Mina reverted to her normal form, "Plus you already won."

"What?" Marco replied, confused by her statement. He looked at the top of the hill where an astonishingly beautiful business man pointed to where Marco's discarded hoodie flag had pierced the top.

"It doesn't feel like a victory though." Marco admitted scratching the back of his head.

"Yeah, humans are pretty weak." Mina added. "Not a real challenge."

"Hey!" Star shouted, still catching her breath.

Marco continued, "Yeah, It's not exactly fair to battle against people who cannot fight back like we do. Even if wars and fights aren't exactly fair, battles shouldn't be this one sided. If anything, everyone should be having fun together." Marco said, a honest smile forming in his face and Star's as well, happy to see him going back to his more caring attitude.

Mina chuckled, "That's a very nice thought. Either way i'm proud of you."

"Proud?"

"Yeah, no one has put me in a corner like that before. Sure I wasn't going all out but you did get me right after just learning to use a sword, that's no small feat." She commended his skills, before clapping her hands "Now about this request-"

"I don't have a request. I just wanted to show you a good time, to be honest." Marco said rubbing the back of his neck once more, which caused Mina to smile.

"That you did. I had fun like I didn't have in quite some time. Thank you, Marco. Today was amazing."

Marco blushed, the make up burning off revealing his ruby marks.

"Hey Marco." Star coughed, "I think we need you to fix everything. Mina you should-" Star paused looking around, "Hey where did she go?" Mina was nowhere to be seen. "Marco? Did-"

Marco was dreamily looking at Mina's sprinting figure waving goodbye in the distance, the infatuated prince unfocused and giggling.

Star smiled, "You had fun on your 'not date', even if she was a little nuts."

Marco chuckled, "It was fun. Things got out of hand but it was nice spending time with her."

"That's nice, but we really should try and fix this hill, I think the lava is starting a fire."

0000

Mina walked into her apartment. Marco's parents had arranged for her to get a place in Echo Creek so that she could be near Marco in case he needs help. She didn't mind it, Earth had its good points. She put down the bags of things she got in the mall and held the hoodie flags she grabbed. She looked out at the window at the setting sun, "Despite everything they say, the prince is quite impressive. I'm looking forward to see your potential… Marco." She said with a well knowing smirk, filled with excitement.

0000

Later as the night came to an end, Marco opened the spellbook to talk to Glossaryck.

The little blue magic man floated out of the book, back turned toward the prince "Oh, so now you come crawling back. You spend a few weeks with a new teacher and neglect me just because she's a dame with some nice gams. When she leaves you just expect me to take you back like nothing."

Marco looked guilty. "Glossaryck, I never meant to hurt your feelings… I'm sorry."

Glossaryck turned around with his usual laidback expression. "Well, don't be. For starters, you can't hurt what I don't have. Besides, I've been snacking with River this last week. It was nice having some time off and I do admire your guts: trying to woe one of Mewni's most impressive warriors. Really aiming out of your league, I gotta respect that."

"Glossaryck! It's not like that."

"Yeah, right, like I haven't caught you mumbling her name into your pillow when you sleep."

"Gah-!" Marco blushed

Glossaryck patted his shoulder, "Oh, don't be a shamed, men have done a lot of embarrassing things when girls have been involved."

"Yeah, things did get out of control at the end."

"Don't overthink it, it's just a part of growing up. Besides, you were surprisingly responsible for a game of flags. It could have gone a lot worse. Let's just get a snack and practice some spells to make up for the time lost."

"Sounds good,"

They left the room, Marco scratching the back of his neck not realizing a blue diamond flacking off from the skin on the back of his neck.

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 **Beta notes: And here it is. Sorry for the delay. I take 100% responsibility for it. College, other projects and personal problems are starting to take increasingly more time, which slows down the editing/reviewing process to a crawl. I'm quitting proofreading ADdude's stories since I'm not going to be able to reliably work on them due to all those issues. Thank your for your patronage and I'm glad to be able to have been part of this project. It was a great experience to me and I hope to have made these stories as good as I could help them be. This was V0ID115 and thanks for everything.**

* * *

 **Author's Note: Yes, it's sad to see V0id go but I want to say I'm very grateful for all their help and wish them the best. If anyone is interested in taking up the mantle of beta for this story please fell free to contact me. In the meanwhile, everyone else please leave a review telling me what you guys thought about this chapter. I changed a lot of stuff for this one basically mixing two episodes here. Leave a review.**


	7. Chapter 7: Mewberty

**Prince Marco Vs The Forces of Darkness**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Star vs the forces of evil.**

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Chapter 07: Mewberty

Marco was feeling crummy. He felt off all day, he took it to mean he wasn't fully recovered from his not date with Mina. He used up a lot of magic and just over did it.

It didn't help he had to go to school and couldn't get some serious rest, it also didn't help that he got hit by one of the doge balls during Physical Education.

He did enjoy taking a relaxing shower after it but everything still felt off. Maybe it was that Star had insisted that he shouldn't take a helmet into the showers. He still worried he'd slip there.

He thought about a minor mishap while he finished getting dressed.

"Hey Marco!"

Marco looked over to find Keith one of the guys from the swim team walking over to him.

"Hello," Marco greeted him, they hadn't talked much but Marco found him friendly enough.

The swimmer look at him oddly, "Ah, I don't know how to say it but… are you trying a new deodorant?"

"No, I'm using the same one I always use."

"Hm, well, some of the guys talking and well you smell weird today, no offense."

Marco sniffed himself and it suddenly hit him, an odd whiff coming from him. "How's this possible I just showered?"

"Yeah, man," Keith scratched the back of his head sheepishly, "Thats weird, but you know changing bodies and all the stuff they say in health class. Here take this," Keith gave him a spray can, "I keep a few spares around, its pretty strong stuff, take it until you find deodorant that works for you."

"Thanks." Marco took it, happy that this awkward moment had been minimized.

Keith walked away and Marco began to spray himself putting on a little extra just to be sure.

Moments later Marco walked into the hall heading for his last class. He was so embarrassed that he'd been smelling weird and needed someone to tell him. At least it was Keith and he was really nice about it.

He still couldn't believe he didn't notice it, it was strong pungent smell that he could only describe as lawn mulch mixed with sweaty old socks.

Marco took a discreet sniff from himself taking in the strong musky smell of the deodorant, then he paused he got the whiff of something else.

"What?" That smell was coming from him again.

He zipped his hoodie right up hoping to contain the smell.

"What's happening to me?" Marco pulled his hoodie over.

Marco didn't realize he had gotten the attention of the girls around in the hall.

"Mom don't tell me what to do! Mom don't tell me what to do."

Marco paused and stared out into the parking lot where a guy was playing a key-tar on the hood of his car. His playing was awful, the songs were terrible and from Marco could tell everyone pretty much agreed with his assessment. People all around him were covering their ears cringing as they got away as soon as they could.

What was worse the kid was planning on dropping out of school to pursue music despite everyone telling him not to.

Apparently that kid had some issues about his mom and her getting remarried and now he chose to live in his car.

Marco felt bad about his future and the choices he was making.

They were so obviously terrible.

Just really bad.

"Ugh! I can't believe I dated him."

Marco paused to find Star trying to cover her ears like everyone else.

"Wait- You dated him?" Marco stared at her dumbfounded.

Star let out an annoyed groan, "Yeah, I first thought he was like this deep tortured artist and then we started dating and… he's super shallow, dull, and an idiot."

Marco patted her back.

"Everyone told me I'd regret it," Star continued, "My mom, my dad, Janna, Brittney, Chantel, Sabrina, Skullnick, Skeeves, Jackie, Hope, Willow, Matt, Megan, Andrea, Jeff, Hunter, Timmy, Francis, Leah, Carrie, Zeke, Dan, Lynn, Kat, Tyler, Blake, Justin, Keith, Coach Minerva, Lunch Lady Tuttertall, Nurse Batterbrook-"

"I get it!" Marco stopped her.

"Lars! Lars of all people said he was worried about me Oskar dragging me down. Lars!"

Marco started to notice various eyes on him, not realizing they were all female.

"Is something wrong?" Star asked her friend noticing his own panic that started to set in.

"Yeah, something is wrong with me and people are starting to notice."

"I gotcha!" Star smiled taking his hand, "Let's get you about of here."

Star pulled him along, his hand felt tight in her grip.

Quickly enough Marco found himself alone with Star in an empty class room, one of the rooms Star liked to sneak into when she needed some time away from class.

"So, what has you so worried, Mar-cutie?" Star plopped herself next to Marco.

"Ah, it's just that I smell weird all the sudden and I can tell people are looking at me."

Star leaned in and took a long whiff from Marco, "You smell great to me."

"Thank you but you don't-" Marco paused as he found Star now sitting his lap her arms wrapped around his neck.

Marco found himself staring into her eyes, "Star, what are you doing?"

Star played with his bangs, "Nothing~ Just noticing how cute you are." Star let out a small giggle, "You and those cute ruby marks. Wait, aren't they supposed to be red and on your cheeks?" Star poked at one of them on his nose causing it to flake off. "And only two?"

Marco panicked looked at his arms now covered with the blue marks. "Oh no! Mewberty!"

"Mewberty? What's that my sweet prince?"

"It's a thing that happens on Mewni where people change as they get to a certain age."

"Oh that sounds like puberty."

"Oh this is nothing like you have on Earth. I have to get out of here I have stay away from girls!"

"I got you covered there, I'll keep all the girls away from My Marco." Star cuddled next to Marco's chest.

"But Star is a giiiiirl!" Marco's pupils turned into sapphires. Marco snapped back pushing Star away.

"I gotta get out of here!" Marco pulled the door open.

"Marco!" Star jumped at him but Marco slammed the door on her.

"Sorry Star! I need to be alone!"

Marco ran down the hall, he didn't know what was happening to Star but he couldn't do anything about it right now. He couldn't trust himself around any girl right now.

Marco rush to the gym, this was the last period it should be empty with all the teams having this period for physical education and they'd be in their fields.

Marco hoped to isolate himself only to find himself amidst the cheer squad. Marco caught them in the middle or practicing their booty shaking dance moves.

It seemed they decided to practice indoors today to Marco's misfortune.

"Oh," Chantel noticed Marco, "Prince Marco do you see something you like?" She continued to shake her rump.

"I ah-" Marco just started making gibberish that didn't even sound like words anymore. His face blushing wildly as he couldn't help but stare.

"Mark-y!" Brittney jumped and hugged Marco. "Did you come to visit me?"

Chantel laughed, "I think he came to see me."

"Step off Chantel!" Brittney confronted the other girl.

Marco used this distraction to flee but as he left the room he bumped into Sabrina knocking them both down to the floor. Marco in odd position of falling on top of her.

"I'm so sorry!" Marco apologized, "Let me help you up."

"No, I got it."

Before Marco could do anything Sabrina flipped him over so she was sitting on top of him. Sabrina tapped her fingers on his chest.

"Marco…." Sabrina leaned in her voice was soft but Marco noted a fire in her eyes, "Marco tell me I'm beautiful."

"Ah, you're very pretty!" Marco said nervously, has skin felt like it was burning as more sapphires formed on his skin to his panic.

"Say it again." Sabrina said in a tone that made Marco shiver.

"You're beautiful…" The words slipped from his lips.

Sabrina smiled brightly, "You have no idea how good it hear you say that. My heart is beating like crazy." She put her hand over the chest, "Do you want to feel it?"

Before Marco could answer Sabrina pulled his hand to her chest, she let out a small gasp feeling him make contact.

"SABRINA!" A furious Brittney ripped Sabrina off Marco and Marco ran as fast as he could.

Marco looked at his hand like it was some sort of vile thing. Once this was all sorted out he'd apologize to Sabrina a million times. Maybe he'd even cut off this vile hand of his.

Suddenly he found himself tackled and slammed right up to a wall. "Marco!" Janna growled at him angrily.

"Janna? You're angry."

"Damn right I am."

"Oh thank Axolotl!" Marco sighed in relief, "You're still the same." Marco stopped when he saw Janna's eyes, she looked on the verge of tears, "Janna? Did I do something to upset you?"

"Yes, you have!" The bangs of her hair covered her eyes, "How dare you make me tell you this?"

"What?"

"I like you Marco." Janna moved closer to him, "I like you a lot. You're sweet, and handsome and kind." She chuckled, "You have magic so that a nice bonus. Plus, you adorably cute when you get flustered."

Janna leaned in pressing him back to the wall.

Something rose inside of Marco, "Giiirl."

As much as Marco tried to hold himself back he found his arms wrapping around Janna,

"Yeah, I'm your girl." Janna buried her face in his neck.

Marco was fighting every instinct so not to do something he'd regret.

"I want you for myself." Janna whispered, her voice tickled him. "My little magical prince, let's make some magic together." Janna purred at him making his knees buckle.

"Ow!" Marco yelped, "Did you bite me?"

Janna pulled back and smiled, "Yeah, I need to mark you as mine, It looks like I have to work for it too. You got plenty right now." Janna pointed at the duplicating little gem marks.

"No! No! No! No!" Marco's panic grew as he waved his hand around trying to throw off the marks.

His hands were stopped by Leah and Hope, they both grabbed his arms and held them tightly.

"Leah! Hope!" Janna shouted, "Get off him!"

Marco panic as he felt the two girls cuddle up against him.

"You don't have dibs on him!" Leah smirked content to have contact with Marco.

"Having a cute prince as a boyfriend might actually get my parents to stop fighting." Hope smiled to herself taking a deep sniff off Marco.

Whatever was happening to the girls luckily making them fight amongst themselves. As they did Marco slipped out of their grips and ran for it. Leah nor Hope noticed as they continued to argue with Janna.

"The smell," Marco realized it, the smell had to be making the girls act so strange, he remembered something in science class about pheromones attracting mates, "But Mewberty doesn't work like that." Marco huffed as he got tired, his heart beat like crazy and his body ached. He couldn't run, he needed to hide until this all passed. He reached his locker and jumped inside closing the door behind him. He pulled his legs in and curled up, pretending he wasn't there.

He hoped no one would find him.

He was tired, he huddled in there hoping for it all to pass. The skin flakes fell him faster and his body made more, soon the locker was filled with them and they began to cocoon him.

0000

Star paced back and forth, her head felt clearer, "Why was I gonna kiss Marco!? What came over me!? Sure Marco is cute and fun but I don't think of him like that!" She fuzzed up her hair, "Wait, what was he talking about needing to stay away from girls?"

Star thought about it more and Marco looked scared, something was wrong. But where was Marco now? She pulled out her scissors and quickly created a portal found herself stepping into Marco's room. She quickly found his spell book and opened it.

"Hey Glossaryck!"

"You don't need to yell!" Glossaryck popped out, "You're not Marco, what do you want?"

"It's about Marco, he was freaking out and more marks were on his skin and he said he had Mewberty, is that some sort of disease?"

Glossaryck looked at Star with surprise, "He's going through Mewberty?"

"I think that's what he said."

"Oh my, I wasn't expecting this. Where is Marco now? I need to see him right away."

"I guess he's still at the school." Star opened another portal and the blue man followed her.

They reached the school and the moment they did to see brandishing her new sword at them.

"Ah!" Star yelled out startled.

"Hm, you're Marco's friend, right?"

"Mina what are you doing here?" Glossaryck asked her.

"My duty, one of my duties is to protect the prince and I sensed that some magic was running wild here. I thought an enemy might be trying to attack him or he got himself over his head. I saw this portal opening and I thought it might have been an enemy."

"No, it's worse." Glossaryck admitted, "Marco's going through Mewberty."

Mina's eyes went wide, "But he- he's a he."

"I know, but considering who Marco is- Never mind that, we have to look for him."

"I already have his trail." Mina pointed to the flecks of sapphire marks on the floor.

0000

Janna leaned by the wall she suddenly found herself arguing with Hope and Leah about Marco but wasn't sure why then found herself a quiet place to sort everything out. Her head hurt a little and it didn't help that Sabrina and Brittney were walking towards her all the while talking loudly.

"You can't do that!" Brittney yelled, "You can't just mount any guy you want! What will people say about our squad?"

Sabrina who was already blushing shrunk, "I know, I don't know what came over me, why aren't you yelling at Chantel about shaking her butt at him?"

"I will scold her but at lest she didn't try to get him to feel her up! We are going to find Marco and you are going to apologize."

"Shut up!" Janna yelled at them, "my head is hurting and-"

She paused as she saw Star coming down the hall with Mina and Glossaryck, "And after like a minute my head started to clear up but it hurt for a little bit. It was weird, I just started to see Marco as really cute all of a sudden and wanted to cuddle."

"That weird," the magic man said, "Mewberty doesn't work like that, it shouldn't have such an affect on others, but maybe it's Marco's own charm swaying girls towards him." He chuckled for a brief moment.

"What are you talking about?" Sabrina heard them talking.

"What is the warrior not princess doing here?" Brittney pointed at Mina.

Star explained, "Marco is going through stuff, we need to find him. He's giving off a weird smell that makes girls really into him." Star blushed hating to admit she was affected.

"Marco's in trouble?" Sabrina started to panic.

"Maybe," Glossaryck admitted, "It depends on a lot of stuff."

"What's going on?" Brittney demanded an answer from the little blue man.

Glossaryck stared at her, "Talk to me with a little more respect," His tone was casual but there seemed to be power behind those words, enough that Mina took a step back, "You have no idea who I am."

"You don't know who I am!" Brittney shot back, "Now tell me what is happening to Marco."

Glossaryck smirked slightly amused, "I do like your guts. Okay, well, how to explain."

"Do we explain?" Mina asked him, "I don't think Marco's told them and it seems a little personal."

"Oh, so the queen told you the details."

Mina nodded, "This is something that should really come from him."

"Maybe but if they are gonna be any help they need to know more."

"JUST TELL US WHAT'S HAPPENING?!" Star ran out of patience.

Glossaryck huffed, "Okay, to start off Prince Marco Diaz should not exist."

"What?" The girls asked confused.

"Is this some sort of magic alter destiny thing?" Janna asked worry peppering her voice.

"No, its just how things turned out. Sometimes things don't turn out the way they should, not anything magical."

Mina explained more, "Marco's family is a matriarchy, the crown and the wand pass down to the eldest daughter, from mother to daughter."

"So, boys don't get squat?" Brittney mused out loud. "But Marco is an only child and got made next in line."

The magic teacher shook his head, "No, I mean thats how things usually work, that is what happened in the Pony Head family just switch genders."

"That isn't the way without reason," Mina told them, "his mother's family can only have girls, never in their history have they had a boy."

"Yeah, you see thats odd." Glossaryck held out his hand, "He's definitely their kid, has the magic and the marks. But he's a boy through and through. His parents love him and everything but problems followed. The kingdom is so used to being run by a queen they are having trouble wrapping their mind around having a prince. They've been teasing Marco about since he was a baby, gave him all sorts of complexes, big reason for all his insecurity issues."

"Besides the point," Mina held out a hand to stop him, "Mewberty is stage in a girl's development where their body changes. But Marco is a boy, we didn't know if he'd go through it."

"And we aren't sure if it's gonna be the same, this is all new territory." Glossaryck tapped his chin, "For example Mewberty doesn't usually affect people like it had you."

"So, how was Mewberty for you?" Star asked Mina, trying to get a better idea of what might happen.

"I didn't go through it." Mina pointed to her cheeks, "No mark, Mewberty is only something that girls with royal blood go through. Last time I saw it happened was when then Princess Angie was going through it, and we trapped her in the dungeons when it started."

"So, what's Mewberty like?" Sabrina asked trying to wrap her head around it.

Glossaryck though about it, "Its odd time in the life of a teenager, their bodies change and hormones run through their body making them do things they know they shouldn't. I imagine for Marco it would be like never having bacon in his life and suddenly wanting nothing but bacon and finding out girls are made of bacon. Also, he's gonna be all hands and a bit of a creeper."

"Sounds like normal puberty." Janna joked.

"Wait, is he literally going to eat girls?" Star panicked.

"No… well, probably not, maybe." Glossaryck offered up, "Not really sure, he might be a biter." He turned to Janna.

She tugged on her hat to try and avoid eye contact.

0000

People were walking by when a locker started to bulge and little diamond shape flecks poured out through the cracks. The door swung open to reveal a large blue cocoon, two glowing gems pierced it with their light, a dark silhoutte forming around them.

Then suddenly a hand shot out.

0000

"How are you gonna help Marco?" Star brought up her concerns, "Is it gonna hurt him?"

"I intend to do nothing." Glossaryck continued to float behind the warrior as they all followed along.

Mina paused studying the trail Marco ran around and looped around making it a little harder to track him.

"Nothing!" Star was appalled.

"Its nature, a bit out of the norm but that's his nature and there is no fighting nature and winning. I mean, I could but there are always some consequences and I do not want to learn new physical laws."

"So you're gonna do nothing?" Janna just stared less than impressed by the magical pair.

"I'm going to sit and observe." Glossaryck took a notepad and a bucket of pop corn.

"You've got to be kidding me." Brittney scoffed, "Aren't you supposed to be his servant? Shouldn't you try and help."

"Servant, funny word, its not exactly my relationship to that family. I'll try to clear things up a bit, my purpose is multilayered, I keep magic on a pan-dimensional level in check, I teach the keeper of the wand to properly use their magic, I keep their vast history in order for the book so the heirs can learn from it, and probably my most importantly I teach the heir how to rule. Marco's safety is not on the list." He pointed to Mina, "It's her duty to protect him and failing to do so make sure he can defend himself. I'm just here to add this incident into the book. Who knows if there will ever be about prince much less if they will go through Mewberty too. It would be nice to have some idea of what is going to happen."

"Ah, so what are you gonna do?" Sabrina decided talking to him was going nowhere and just to ask Mina,

"Tie him up." Mina licked some of the skin flakes. "Just put him somewhere until this passes."

"If it passes," Glossaryck pointed out.

"Yeah, tie, why?" Janna raised the question.

"Ah, well, this can be a little…. intense," Mina phrased it oddly. "When it starts it's just easier for everyone to get them isolated."

At that moment several people ran passed them in fear.

"Oh!" Glossaryck said with some glee, "Its looks like it's started."

He and Mina rushed towards the source of the ruckus and the girls followed along.

Soon they arrived to a hall where blue vines crawled all over and dark blue goop seemed spilled all over the walls. The vines sprouted glowing sapphire leaves and even those leaves popped out of the goop.

They spotted a few people hiding away but their attention was drawn more to the now ripped open lockers. Inside all the lockers were girls trapped with goopy blue webs.

"Help!"

"Get us out of here!"

"I gotcha!" Mina walked up to the webs and pulled out her sword. With one swing-the sword got stuck in it. Mina yank on the blade but it refused to budge, she let it go it just sort of hung in it. "Huh? Okay, I've got nothing. I don't remember this stuff being this gooey. Is it something Marco eats?"

"Marco made that?" Star looked at the goo, "I don't remember him using a spell like this."

"It's not a spell." Mina told her but stopped talking as the sound of buzzing was heard.

They looked up to see a figure in the air with dark blue skin, six arms and glowing sapphire like eyes. His air was tangled mess, his clothes dyed blue and tattered. Behind him were a pair semi-transparent butterfly like wings.

The big like figure was carrying a geeky girl with glasses, it quickly ripped off one of the locker doors and tossed her into it before shooting out webs to keep her there.

"What the-?" Janna blurted.

"…Marco?" Star gasped.

In the blink of the eye Marco moved towards the group and looked them over tilting his head curiously as he did. He smiled at them before he flew up and away.

"What was that?!" Brittney yelled out.

"That was Mewberty." Glossaryck confirmed, "I did say his body would change, were you not paying attention?"

"How do we get Marco back?" Star demanded.

"Like I said, hopefully this wears off. It normally does though since Marco is a special case it might not this time. For all I know this is how Marco is gonna be from now on."

"Giiiirls!" Marco came flying back carrying another girl and trapping her in another locker.

"What is he doing?" Janna pointed to Marco.

"Oh, yeah, that's weird." Glossaryck told her, "This whole thing kinda fried his brain, he's running on basic instinct. He's gone girl crazy, he thinks they're pretty and he's just collecting them. This is just a left over from the species Mewmans evolved from, he's instinctually looking for a mate. He'll keep doing this until he find a proper mate. This is not much different from how humans shake their butts like those apes you evolve from. It's just weird mating rituals."

"Wait, go back! He's looking for a mate!? Why hasn't he tried to collect me!?" Brittney pointed to herself sounding insulted.

"Oh, probably he doesn't think of you as girls. I've known Marco his whole life, and with his mind the way it is at the moment I'm just guessing but considering everything." Glossaryck paused, "Marco hasn't had the best luck when girls come into play. I mean, most of his insecurity issues come from his people wanting a princess instead of a prince. Think of it, people all around you for you entire life telling you that you were wrong or inferior, that would mess with you all just because you weren't a girl. Most girls teased him about it or out right shunned him. Now you meet a group of girls that doesn't look at you like your some sort of error. You wouldn't think of them as common as a girl, he's gotten to know you and care about you, Marco treasures you beyond merely as a cute girl. Thus what you are is not what his Mewberty mind is seeking to capture. You are something far more precious and something beyond a mere girl or a simple mate."

Mina cracked her knuckles as Marco finished with the locker, "Then I have extra reason to stop him before he does something he'd regret."

"You can't-" Sabrina told her, "It's still Marco."

"And what do you think he'd like more me hurting him to stop him or him hurting someone else."

Considering Marco's normal behavior the girls all knew the answer.

Mina rushed at Marco trying to knock him out, but in mid punch she found several hand grabbing her. Mina was stopped mid attack by Marco, his fighting instincts were still there and hyped up because of his current form.

"I might have held back a bit much there." Mina admitted.

Marco hurled Mina into a wall, the wall cracked behind her. Mina jumped off the wall and launched herself at Marco. She quickly reach him and tried to wrestle him onto the ground, that didn't work as his wings buzzed wildly lifting them both into the air. Marco quickly spun wildly into the air as Mina tried to put him in a choke hold.

The girls could only watch their hearts in their throats, they agreed that Marco would choose to be stopped even if he got rough up bit they didn't want him to get hurt.

That wasn't much of an issue though, Marco hand six arms as was using them to pry Mina off him and hit her sides.

"You know riling him will just make things worse." Glossaryck yelled out.

Finally forced off Mina hit the ground and roll to her side to take away most of the momentum. She quickly grabbed one of the discarded locker doors to use as a makeshift weapons and hurled it right at the prince.

Then light ripped from his sapphire eyes atomizing the locker door.

"He's got laser eyes!" Mina looked on surprised.

"Yeah, that one is new." Glossaryck made a note about that.

"Fine going all out." Mina growled before letting out a primal yell.

A golden aura flowed around her as her muscles bulged, she was ready to fly after him and hope she could hold back enough to prevent from seriously hurting him.

Then Marco shot more webs at her feet before she could take off.

She tried to go after him but she was stuck to the ground, she gave it another go but didn't budge. She reverted to her natural form, "I'm out of ideas."

A moment later Marco started to fire more of the goo at Mina quickly forming a shell around her and up to her head.

"Pudding thief!" Star grabbed Glossaryck, "Tell us how to undo this!"

"There is no undoing, this is nature and any attempt to use magic to prevent or hault or speed this up would have dire consequences on him. Since I'm the only one who could possible try and pull any of them off I'm going to put my foot down."

"How about non-magic ways to get Marco back? You said this was temporary."

"Maybe, I can't say for sure with Marco's nature."

"It's got to be temporary." Star had to hold onto the hope of getting Marco back, "How does it usually end? What makes it end?"

"Oh, I see what you're getting at. Maybe magic isn't the solution, just finding a natural way to go through it." Glossaryck tapped his chin, "This does boil down to raging emotions, its affects on his body and his magic. Maybe another emotional reaction, something strong to get into his mewberty mind but still something passive and soothing."

"Love!" Star shouted, "A amor! A crushes!"

"Yeah, I guess it could work." Glossaryck said noncommittally. "Try and make him feel that."

Star grinned as she pulled out her scissors and opened up a rift, "You guys keep Marco from running off."

The rift closed as Star quickly jumped in, Janna looked at the girls, "What does she expect us to do?"

Brittney grinned, "I have an idea."

0000

Jackie was a little annoyed as she put on her helmet, school was out but her last class happened to be near the parking where Oskar was playing. It tended to bleed even into the walls it was an annoying way to spend her last class listening to him.

"Jackie!" Star rushed into the parking lot giving the girl a great big hug.

"Hey Star." Jackie let out small chuckle, "What's going on?"

"I need you help! Marco needs your help! "

0000

As Marco finished cocooning Mina he found himself being whipped by her pig tails. She refused to give up but that just resulted in forcing him to bat them away before just starting to fly away.

"Okay ready, Don't mess this up." Brittney told the girls.

Sabrina and Janna put their arms together and let Brittney stand on them. This was a cheerleading move called the basket toss and was used to throw a person. They just have to get the details to Janna to try and pull it off.

"Now!"

The girls hurled Brittney up into the air and she grabbed at Marco as he passed by. Marco still retained some sense he caught her keeping her from falling.

"Okay," Brittney said nervous, "I don't care that you're a bug now Marco, I'm beautiful enough for the both of us." Brittney fidgeted, "Okay, so I'm going to snap your out of this…. With…" she blushed, "with a kiss."

Marco blinked not exactly sure what she was saying.

Brittney pucker up and leaned in, then paused, "give me a second, this isn't how I expected our first kiss to be like. I imagined we'd be alone together under the moonlight, maybe some candles, me wearing a beautiful dress," Marco placed her softly on the ground by Janna and Sabrina, "you looking cute in your royal outfit-" Brittney stopped as she realized Marco was cocooning them up.

Janna shook her head, "You are such a disappointment. The power of love? Really?"

"It works on TV." Brittney protested. "And a loves true kiss is supposed to break magic stuff."

"You also lacked follow through." Glossaryck pointed out.

Marco patted the girls head softly as he prepared to fly off.

A swirling vortex opened up and Star rushed out, "Okay, Marco!"

Marco looked at Star confused, "I've got someone you want to see."

Star reached into the portal and pulled out Jackie.

"Uh, hey" Jackie was still confused at what was happening. She was just trying to follow Star's plan.

Marco blinked, his voice going sing-song-y, "Jackie~!"

"Ah, Star?" Jackie took a step back nervously, "Are you sure about this?"

"Have I ever let you down?"

"Well-"

"Don't answer that."

Star had to bet on Marco's crush on Jackie, he'd moved on from his boyish crush on Mina and now was used to being around her. He'd have a few moments when he'd act like a lovesick goof but those were now far apart. But with Jackie he was still a nervous wreck, he'd maybe this could break him out of it.

"Jaaackie~!" Marco rushed and picked up Jackie quickly flying her into the air and the graying sky.

Star looked up hoping for any sign and after a moment none she gasped, "…Good Bye Marco."

He was gone, her plan didn't work, maybe Marco would never come back. Tears formed in her eyes.

Then a loud beeping was heard, Glossaryck pulled back his sleeve to reveal a digital watch, "Okay, and that should be about it." He looked around for a moment before they all saw a falling body coming from the sky.

A portal formed beneath the falling figure and another one formed by Star with Jackie rushed through it. Jackie crashed right into Star.

"Cool! That worked."

"Jackie!" Star quickly hugged her friend.

Star wasn't dumb, unfocused yes but not stupid. Before they walked through the portal Star showed Jackie how to use the scissors and gave them to her to use. Star wasn't about to use her without giving her an escape route.

"Wait, where's Marco?" Star questioned.

"He started to twitch like crazy and dropped me and I used these scissors to take me to you."

A whizzing sounds was heard, they turned around to see another body falling. They turned around in time to see it drop right into a messy nest of goo, vines, and leaves formed right by Marco cocoon.

Star and Jackie rushed to see what crashed.

Glossaryck floated behind them, only stopping to turn to the others struggling to move, "You just stay here."

As they arrived Marco jolted up from the mess of goo, "What happened?"

"Marco!" Star gave him a tight hug.

"Star?" Marco was still dizzy.

"Whoa!" Star pulled back feeling something strange,

Marco looked back to find a pair of small Prussian Blue wings.

Suddenly everything clicked, "I got my wings!"

"So it seems, my prince." Glossaryck gave him a small smile, "Its good to have you back."

Star poked at his wings which twitched at the touch, "Does this mean you can fly?"

"No, too small but maybe later when they grow out a bit."

"That's pretty cool." Jackie smiled,

"Jackie!" Marco flustered.

"You should be thanking these girls. They did everything they could keep you from causing trouble." Glossaryck informed the prince.

"I did- Oh, I'm so sorry and thank you-" Marco collapsed.

"Marco!" Both shouted in panic.

Glossaryck hovered over, Jackie still unsure about this little magic man she had just seen for the first time, Glossaryck checked Marco over, "Don't worry this one is common. One out of three mewberty end with the person collapsing, it takes a lot out of them." He raised his hand and the scissors flew into them and he opened a portal. He paused a moment and studied the scissors, "I'll take him home to rest up and get some food."

Glossaryck just dragged the prince through the portal.

Star and Jackie walked back to the others.

"Everything is solved, Marco is fine and sleepy." Star beamed and grabbed a pile of the web to pull them off.

Jackie joined her seeing her have some trouble pulling them off then paused, "Star? This stuff isn't coming off… not even off my hands."

"Uh!" Star struggled it not coming off her.

"You forgot this stuff is sticky, didn't you?" Janna gave a tired sigh.

"Maybe." Star admitted with a sheepish laugh.

"Don't worry, this stuff usually dissolves after a few hours." Mina confirmed.

Jackie sighed, "So, does this happen a lot around Marco?"

* * *

 **Author's Notes: Back with another update. I had most of this chapter done already, but I've been sick these last few days so I finished it up. I'm still the need for a beta so if any of you are interested let me know. Anyway, leave a review tell me what you guys thought about this chapter.**


	8. Chapter 8: Monster Arm

**Prince Marco Vs The Forces of Darkness**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Star vs the forces of evil.**

* * *

Chapter 08: Monster Arm

Sabrina was happy, it was Sunday and there was nothing much to do. She did have something planned though and that involved Marco. Marco had invited Sabrina over, so she put on a cute white dress with a flower pattern. Then she added a cute pink apron when she got to the kitchen.

She and Marco were gonna make snacks and work on their school work.

Marco put on his own apron as he looked over a cook book. Marco having tried all the recipes in the books already at the house wanted to try something bought a cook book all about pastries and desserts. Marco decided to invite Sabrina to help him try them out.

Marco's host family was more than grateful for the snacks.

Already they spotted River, Star and Glossaryck sitting on Star's head peaking around the door eagerly.

"Come now," Moon pulled them away, "leave them alone, finish getting ready."

"Fine." Star walked off with River right behind.

Moon turned to the pair of teenagers, "We should be back from brunch with my mother later in the afternoon."

"I understand, thank you for letting us use the kitchen." Marco thanked her.

"Think nothing off, think of this place as your home Marco."

"Then I'll be sure to clean up before you get back."

"If you are going to thank me, I'd appreciate if you save us a few snacks."

"I'll make sure we save you some snacks, Mrs. Butterfly." Sabrina spoke up with a bright smile.

Moon smiled, "Thank you, dear." She leaned in and whispered, "Good luck," Moon walked away to wrangle her family.

She chuckled a little to herself, it was so obvious that Sabrina had a crush on Marco and he had yet to realize it. It reminded her about her youth with River, he cared about her so much and didn't notice it for a long time. All the turkey he brought her should have been a clue.

She hoped the girl could find the courage to tell him about her feelings, and however Marco felt she'd find happiness.

Marco spotted Glossaryck hovering in the same spot, "Glossaryck, what are you doing here?"

"What? She's not my boss." Glossaryck told him flatly.

"Uh," Sabrina tried to pull up the courage to talk to the little man, "don't worry, I'll make sure to save you something really tasty."

"Will it has chocolate?" Glossaryck hovered over her.

"Of course."

Glossaryck smiled, "I guess I can leave you alone for a while, it doesn't look like you'll need me. Maybe take a nap or something. Maybe I'll go check up on Hekapoo or Omnitraxus or Lekmet."

Glossaryck floated away.

Sabrina shivered, he always made her uneasy.

Marco pondered the book, "Let's see I want to make something good and we probably have to make a lot since Star loves sweets almost as much as my parents. I also want to send some to Rhombulus and Lekmet. Maybe make a care package for Pony Head she probably needs some being in St. Olga's school for Wayward Princess."

A crack of thunder was heard, Sabrina looked out the window not even spotting a single cloud in the sky.

Marco continued his list, "I should make some for Tom too. Then I should make some for Mina and the others. Maybe some for Miss Skullnick too, I still feel bad about turning her into a troll."

Sabrina couldn't help but smile, how thought of Marco to try and make everyone he knew happy. Sabrina was still not sure about who some of those people were, like who was called Pony Head or Rhombulus.

"I have an idea," Sabrina offered up, "lets make a lot of things and we can mix them up and send several packages out. Everyone gets a little of everything we make. We have enough time to make a lot of stuff."

"I do like the idea of trying out a lot of things." Marco admitted, "there were a lot of interesting recipes. But we are gonna have to make a lot."

So they started, they spent the next few hours baking all sorts of goodies. They talked about all sort of things, Marco's life growing up on Mewni.

About how he, Pony Head, and Tom went to one of the nearby forest to explore together when they were young. Marco even admitted that he didn't have a lot of friends and found companionship with the animals of the forest. That he'd often spend his days playing with some of the forest animals.

"Sometimes it seems I was better with animals than people." Marco admitted, "It's probably why most of the spells are summons that look like animals."

"I understand that too." Sabrina admitted shyly, "I was really nervous when I was small. I found it hard to speak up, sometimes I wouldn't talk for days. Some people started to think I couldn't talk. There was someone I could talk to, my mom had this parrot Mister Paw-Paw. Mister Paw-Paw was old parrot and couldn't talk anymore. I don't know, having someone else that couldn't talk made me feel safe and comfortable, like I wasn't alone. I found myself talking to him, I don't know it was easier, knowing he wasn't going to say anything. He let me get confident enough to talk to people."

"Well, I'm glad, I like talking to you."

A wide smile spread across her lips, she normally couldn't find courage to talk to many people but with Marco it was easy. People ignored her or walked over her but not Marco… with Marco she actually felt like a princess.

They actually had fun just baking and chatting all the while. They packed away everything in boxes and marked them off, Marco planning to send them out later. After finishing up a large chocolate cake for Glossaryck even writing his name in blue frosting, they sat down and had some of their snacks.

Marco paused trying to say soemthing, "Sabrina, there is another reason why I invited you here today."

"Really?"

"There is something I wanted to say to you."

Sabrina found herself nervously tugging at the end of her pony tail, she tried not to get her hopes up but she couldn't help but wish he'd ask her out.

"I'm sorry."

"Huh?" Sabrina couldn't think of why he would apologize.

"I did some … less then proper things while I was going through Mewberty. More to it, I did something to you while like that and I can't stand doing something like that to a friend."

Sabrina blinked, "You mean making me all lovey-dovey?" Sabrina blushed at the thought.

"I meant… about touching your…" He motioned to her chest.

"Oh!" Sabrina had actually forgotten that. "No! It's not your fault- I mean- I grabbed your hand and put-" Sabrina was so embarrassed and found her arms crossing her chest. "I mean, we were both acting strangely. It's not anyone's fault."

Marco was blushing himself, "I agree, but I think I still need to make it up to you. I'm the one who started up this whole situation. So, if you want anything tell me and I'll make it happen."

Sabrina stared at the prince before her, she did want something, she wanted to go on a proper date with him just to have fun with him. Her heart raced hoping to find the courage to just ask him.

Knock-knock.

They turned to the door that lead to the backyard, someone fiddling with the door knob. "Open!"

Marco walked over with Sabrina close by, he opened it up to find Ludo and his monster there.

"Hi!" Lobster claws waved.

Ludo smacked his monster.

"We've come to take the wand from you!" Ludo announced.

"Why now?" Marco questioned him.

"I have been waiting for the perfect time."

It wasn't exactly a lie. Since Mina had become a knight for Marco Buff Frog was finding it hard to spy on him. Every once in a while Mina would do a pass by to see if Marco was safe. Mina almost caught him on her first day but Buff Frog managed to escape into a portal at the last second. The same thing happened around Marco's school, so no attacking there.

They were tempted to attack while Marco was going through Mewberty and everyone was distracted but Marco was too unpredictable and frankly scary at the time.

Today was a bit different.

"Your knight isn't around." Ludo announced.

"You mean Mina?"

"Your crazy guardian no where to be seen."

"Star?"

"Neither are the Loud One or the Scary One."

"Brittney and Janna? Why is Janna the scary one?"

Buff Frog answered that one, "She keeps sneaking into the house, one night she stared at me from the window and was trying to put a dark curse on me."

All the monsters all seemed uneasy at that.

Ludo continued, "All you got with you is the Timid One, what is she good for?"

Sabrina shrunk at the unkind words.

Ludo just kept going, "You are by yourself and we out number you."

Sabrina felt horrible, she couldn't help him.

Marco stood before Sabrina as he held up his wand. "Don't you ever talk about my friends like that."

Ludo snickered, "Did a touch a nerve?"

"Also, I'm never alone."

"Guardian of Stone" Marco raised his wand as it began to glow and he felt his words charged with power, "rise and crush the enemies that stand before me."

The ground shook as suddenly between the monsters and Marco stood a two story tall warrior made of stone.

"My teachers have been getting me to get ready for fights." Marco explained, using a bit of magic to jump onto the giant's shoulder, "One of them taught me a spell crafted by the Great-Great grandmother. Meet my stone knight Arthur."

Ludo gulped and rushed behind Buff Frog, "What are you waiting for? Get him!"

"How-" Buff didn't finish his sentence as he was forced to jump out of the way of the stone giant's step.

These guys were crafted to defend fortresses from Armies, it was actually a kinda hard spell to manage. Marco was just so used to summoning it that with some practice with Glossaryck he managed it. The problem was that these guys weren't fast. That didn't matter as he was fight so few in an enclosed space, the backyard. All he really had to do in this small space was stay by his spells and direct it.

Honestly Marco was going a little overboard with this spell, he just got angry when he heard Ludo say Sabrina was good for nothing.

The group shook with every step and the monsters were all scattering around, a few of the braver or stupider ones tried to climb on him but were just swatted away.

Lobster Claws was busy trying to climb the fence and escape when Ludo got an idea. This might be the best distraction, he opened up a small portal and reach through.

The other end opened up behind Marco and he felt a small hand tug on his wand.

"Come on!"

"Hey let that go." Marco tugged back on the wand unwilling to lose it so easily.

"Buff frog help!"

The frog Monster quickly grabbed his boss to try and help him.

The tug of war continued, "Master Ludo let go!"

"Why-" He let go since the stone giant was about to step on them. The moved out of the way and the sudden release made Marco lose his balance and started slipping off the giants shoulder.

"Let's get out of here while we can!" Ludo opened a portal to his castle and all the monsters raced into it.

"No!"

Marco tried to grabbed on the giant but had lost his grip and fall.

"Marco!" Sabrina raced to him desperate to catch him.

Didn't work out so well as he fell right on her.

0000

A few minutes later inside, Marco had helped Sabrina into a chair. Sabrina was trying to hold back tears as she held her arm.

"Marco… I think I broke it." She hissed at the pain.

Marco gulped seeing the arm twist in an odd direction.

Guilt quickly set in, he wanted her to come over to do something nice for her but now he hurt her!

"I can heal it! Just give me a second!"

Marco rushed up to his room.

It wasn't a lie, sort of, since he started training with Mina Glossaryck had started to teach him a few healing spells just incase he got hurt. They hadn't gotten very far, mostly healing small injuries and certainly never mending bones. But Marco was desperate to try. He found his book and flipped through it, "Glossaryck, oh… he actually went to check up on the commission." He flipped through the pages and finally found a spell that looked right. "Hm, it looks like its in an ancient language."

Even before he got his wand his mom and Glossaryck had started to give him some teaching on magic and that included learning some ancient languages. They wanted him to be prepared for it when the time came. Still, he could only barely make out what the spell was about, he could make out the words, 'Bones heals' and that was enough.

Marco carried the book down stairs and as soon as he got to the kitchen dropped it on the kitchen table. "Okay give me a minute." Marco raised the wand, "Releaseseo Demonius Infestica!"

Swirling light shot out of his wand hitting.

"I think it's working!"

The light faded away leaving Sabrina with a tentacle instead of a broken arm.

"Aaaaah!"

"Aaaaah!"

The teens screamed and before she realized the tentacle wrapped around Marco and tossed him aside. The monster arm flailed around smacking at everything. Her new arm was about to squash the freshly made cake but found it stopping.

"Look, I'll allow a lot but I won't allow an innocent cake getting squashed." Glossaryck floated nearby holding out his hand creating an invisible shield around the cake.

"Glossaryck!" Marco said happily,

"Oh, look it has my name on it." Glossaryck looked over the cake, he seemed happy, more happy that Marco could remember him being.

The monster arm shrunk back to Sabrina and cowered behind her.

Glossaryck ran his finger over the cake and sampled it, "Oh delicious! Chocolate! Where have you been all my life?" He then turned to the prince and the girl who seemed to be in shock.

"By the way why does she has a monster arm?" Is this a commitment issue thing, Marco? Yes, it would be very taboo for you two to get together but honestly I think you two would be such a cute couple anyway."

"What?" Marco said unsure what he meant, his head hurt from being slammed around. "I was trying to heal her broken arm and this happened." Marco held out the book.

Glossaryck looked over the open page, "Huh, Marco this isn't a healing spell this is a curse and a nasty one at it."

"What?" The teens shouted in unison.

"Didn't you read the spell?"

Marco told him, "Its said it healed bones."

"The whole things reads: To be cast in the rare instances when you need to heal a broken bone and infect the host with a demonic tentacle virus." Glossaryck told him, "Stage one: Bones healed. Stage two: Virus braids itself into the host's skeletal system. Stage three: Healed bones "hatches" into a-"

"Tentacle!" Marco shouted, "I get it, I screwed up! I'm sorry, please fix it."

"Marco I see that you are truly sorry about this but that's not how I work and you know it. I'm a teacher and you won't learn anything if I just fix your problems." Glossaryck flipped the pages of the book to a new spell, "Though I will show you what you need to do to fix it."

Marco read over the spells, "Returneo Aremo Normalredicus."

Marco raised his wand to try and cast the spell, Sabrina stopped him, "Maybe you should try it out first."

Marco cringed knowing she'd lost some trust in him, not that he blamed her.

"It's probably a good idea, " Glossaryck pulled over a house plant and as Marco got ready Glossaryck cut himself a slice of cake and started eating, "oh so good. Is there a pudding layer? Just delightful."

"Returneo Aremo Normalredicus."Marco fired the spell at the plant and it caught on fire.

Between bites Glossaryck said, "I'll get the fire extinguisher."

The tentacle slapped Marco.

0000

The Butterfly family walked through the front door, they brought in some leftovers.

Star rubbed her cheeks, she loved her grandmother but she always pinched her cheeks so hard.

Star sniffed the air, "Hey I smell cake."

"I do too" River perked up.

The pair walked into the kitchen.

"Hey Marco," Star announced holding up the left overs, "We brought back-"

They quickly found a tendril sprouting from Sabrina's arm wrapped around Marco smacking him about.

They pulled Marco away and he explained the situation to them.

"Don't worry I'm sure Marco will have you back to normal in no time." Star assured Sabrina.

"My mom is going to freak out when she sees this." The tentacle wriggled. "She's never going to let me see you again!"

"Uh, oh!" Star got an idea, "Why don't you stay over with us for the night? Marco will probably have the spell down by tomorrow."

"Yes, of course, you are welcome to stay as long as you need to." Moon told her.

She could tell that it would devastate both Marco and Sabrina not being allowed to see each other. She had confidence that Marco would be able to sort this out.

0000

Star make it seem like a sleep over, she helped Sabrina do her homework. They rolled in a rollaway bed into Star's room. Sabrina borrowed a pair of pajamas and got ready for sleep.

As they got ready for bed they could hear Marco blasting magic in his room as he tried to get the spell.

"Don't worry I'm sure Marco will get it." Star tried to reassure Sabrina as she looked up at the ceiling.

"I hope so." Sabrina couldn't help but stare at her new arm.

"So, you like-like Marco?" Star turned to her trying to keep her mind off the monster arm.

"Wh-what?!"

"Oh, please, I can tell you like him."

"B-but-"

"I didn't realize it at first," Star told her, "I mean, everyone has been so nice to Marco. Janna has been nice with him always around him and talking to him and showing movies. Brittney is always super nice, offering him gifts and trip and just being sweet. But unlike them you have a crush on him!"

Sabrina stared at her host with an incredulous look, did she really not realize the others liked Marco too.

"But you have a crush on him!" Star said all excited, "Your eyes sparkle when he's talking to you."

Sabrina blushed hearing that.

"I mean, yeah Marco has a crush on Jackie and Mina but you totally have a shot!"

"Uh, really?"

"Yeah, Marco has a thing legs and you have very pretty legs."

"Really?" Sabrina looked down at her legs.

"Yeah."

Sabrina shook her head, "I know I don't have a chance. Brittney is stylish and confident, she could fit easily with those royal high society types. Janna can be creepy but also passionate and doesn't care what people think of her. Jackie is always so cool and calm. Mina is this cool knight! And… I'm just me... why would Marco bother with me?"

"Because you're sweet and nice and likes spending time with you. Marco has a hard time opening up to people but he doesn't have any trouble talking to you. I'm his bestie and it took him a little bit to be comfortable with me."

Sabrina looked up at the ceiling taking in Star's words. Did she has a shot with someone as amazing as Marco?

She swatted away the tentacle that had started to wrap around her leg.

"Thank you Star." Sabrina whispered.

Before Star could say anything there was a loud explosion from Marco's room and the sensation of the house shaking.

That was followed by Marco screaming and Glossaryck's voice, "Okay, maybe this would be a good opportunity to teach you how to summon water."

0000

Showering was weird, and the less said about that the better. Sabrina was borrowing some clothes from Star for the day. They had hoped that Marco would be able to change her arm back by the morning but it didn't seem to be the case.

When they arrived at the breakfast table they found Marco zonked out. His eyes looked ready to shrivel up, he looked less like a prince and more of a zombie.

"Marco, you okay?" Star questioned.

Marco fell face first into his bowl of cereal.

Glossaryck floated next to him holding a cactus now shaped like a human hand. "Yeah, he made a lot of progress with the spell. I would say he'll have it down in a few hours. " The blue man poked the prince. "Yeah, but he's gonna need some sleep. He didn't sleep a moment last night."

"What are we going to do?" Sabrina worried the monster arm flailing by her side.

Moon took a deep breath, "You're both going to relax and have breakfast. And Then I'm going to drop you off at school."

"What?" Sabrina shouted.

"I know this won't be... easy but you can't miss school. Besides, from what Star has told us most of the school is used to magical things. It shouldn't be much of an issue. As for Marco we should let him get some sleep. River you can drop him off later, right?"

River was pulling Marco from out of his milk, "Yes, I don't think it would be much of a problem."

Sabrina didn't like the idea but didn't say anything.

0000

"Just try to be positive." Star told Sabrina as they arrived at school.

And... nothing happened, after Marco turned a teacher into a troll no one even noticed so much of the strange things that occurred.

Sabrina didn't even get noticed until lunch. She was having lunch with Star who was trying to keep her spirits up.

As they looked for a table, they heard a loud noise.

"What's the most important meal of the day?" They found Lars the local bully picking on Francis.

"Uh, I don't know."

Lars slammed his meal down on the floor, "Its breakfast! Laugh!"

Francis forced out a chuckle.

No one really liked Lars, he just happened to scare everyone so no one really stood up for him, especially as he went to pick on those who could never defend themselves.

Suddenly something smacked Lars. "Who did that?"

Sabrina turned to her arm who had smacked him. "Uh, it — it it- wasn't me."

Lars smiled, "If you think I won't hit a girl-"

The tentacle smacked him again, then again before picking him up and throwing him in to the trash. Then moving over the Francis whipping some of the food that got splashed onto him.

Sabrina stared in surprise, then shook as the whole lunch room broke into applause for her. Sabrina didn't know how to take any of this.

"Cool arm." Sabrina found herself being complimented by Jackie.

"That's awesome!" Janna practically tackled her, "This is Marco's work, isn't?" Janna started to cuddled it.

"Yeah," Sabrina answered not realizing Hope had joined her in cuddling her arm.

People cheered for Sabrina.

"I wonder if I can get Marco to do this to me too." Janna thought loud.

0000

After Marco woke up and took a cup of coffee as River suggested he got back to work.

River and Glossaryck hid behind the couch Marco raised his wand at the next potted plant.

"Returneo Aremo Normalredicus."

No explosion this time, slowly the potted flower was replaced by a small arm rising out of it. The hand gave him a thumbs up.

"I did it!"

"Great!" River cheered, "Well, you missed lunch but I can probably get you before the last period."

0000

Brittney stared at the tentacle arm that her subordinate had, she didn't like it. She didn't like hearing that Sabrina spent the night at Marco's despite actually staying in Star's room. She was overly upset.

She rubbed her chin as she tried to figure this all out.

Sabrina's new arm was gross but it was also able to carry the rest of the cheer squad like they were nothing. Even now Brittney watched as Sabrina effortlessly raised the other girls.

"I suppose we don't have much a choice." Brittney had to admit, "We can't afford to lose a member so soon with the judge coming over after school."

Sabrina blinked, "That's today?"

Today was the day a judge was going to come in and watch the squad perform and if they passed mustard the girls would be eligible to go to a cheerleading meet next month. Besides Brittney's usual pride and drive to be the best and to get a trophy to that effect, Brittney couldn't pass up on the chance to improve their standing and it would mean more money for the squad activities. They could get new uniforms and new and better equipment. Brittany wanted that badly.

"I suppose we have to come up with a new routine." Brittany was having a hard time even saying the words, "I think you're going to have be in the center."

"Really?" Sabrina's eyes glimmered, she had always been in the back ground a never gotten a chance to really stand out in their performances.

"Yes," Brittney sighed, "that new arm might be gross but it's strong and it will bring focus, we have to use that for us. And since you can lift the whole squad like nothing we can use it. Don't blow it."

"Sabrina!" Marco burst in with Star close behind him. "I got the spell, I can get you arm back to normal."

"Yeah looky!" Star held out a pot with a hand sticking out of it. The hand gave them a small wave.

"Marco darling," Brittney paused looking at Marco, "Are you all right?"

"I slept two hours, I used a lot of magic , and I think the only reason I'm still standing is because of all the sugar in my cereal and the coffee Mister Butterfly gave me."Marco's hand was shaking a lot.

"You might want to sit down, maybe take a nap." Brittney spoke her voice peppered with worry.

"I will." Marco told her, "First I have to change that arm back to normal."

"No!" Sabrina yelled as she held the tentacle arm. "This tentacle is the best thing that has ever happened to me! People are paying attention to me! People are respecting me! I'm not going to let you just take it from me"

Marco was startled, in fact everyone was, none of them could remember a time when Sabrina raised her voice like that.

Sabrina walked away, with a Brittney style hair flip as she exited.

0000

Marco left soon after that, the cheerleaders finished up their practice and set out their new routine. Brittney planned on going to Marco afterwards to apologize for Sabrina, mostly because it would make her seem kinder and get a chance to spend some more time with him. She also planned on talking to Sabrina about being so rude, she might not be dating Marco but she still felt like she needed to defend him. But she planned on doing so later there was no reason to throw Sabrina off her game until after the judge came to see their routine.

Meanwhile Sabrina waited alone in the changing room.

"I can't believe Marco wanted to take this away from me. He didn't even ask, like he's right all the time!"

There was a strange sound of flesh cracking as a wide grin and eyes formed on the tentacle.

"He's just jealous." The tentacle spoke with a smooth feminine and oddly British voice.

"You can talk!"

"Yes, and I can help you out."

"You can?"

"Of course, what is it you want?"

"Uh,"

"You want to be popular, you want to be noticed, and you want the boy."

"Well…"

"Now what stands in your way?"

"Uh,"

"Brittney Wong."

"I don't know about that, she's my friend."

"And she treats you like a foot stool."

"She's only done that twice."

"She has the need to be the center of attention, no one will notice you while she's around. Marco won't ever notice you."

"…"

"And what about the other girls who cling to him? Janna, she's always round him teasing him and stealing his things to make her own. How long until she decides to take him for herself."

"I guess-"

"What about Jackie? You know he has a crush on her. She's so cool you can't stand out with her around." The tentacle whispered to her, "We have to get rid of them and we will get everything you ever wanted. We will get you your prince."

"And Mina too! Marco might still have a crush on her!"

"Whoa! Let's save her for later. I mean, let's not deal with the crazy super knight. I mean she's not even here to day. Let's focus on the other girls."

"Yeah, okay, how about Star?"

"I mean, she was really supportive about you trying to date him. I think they're just friends. But, let's go with the safe side and take her out too and the rest of the cheerleaders. Chantel shook her booty at him. They must all be gotten rid off."

"Yeah!" Sabrina cheered.

"We will take everyone out! You will be the most popular girl at the school!"

"Yeah!"

"We will get you Marco!"

"Yeah!"

"Then we will slaughter all of humanity and feast on their bowels!"

"Ye-wait, what was that?"

"Huh, I meant, we will win the cheerleading competition!"

"Yeah!"

0000

Brittney was busy trying to keep the judge there, "Miss Hill, we're just waiting for out last member. She should be here any moment."

"I will give you five more minutes, Miss Wong. But if she isn't here and you can't perform I will be forced to disqualify you." The Judge told her.

Nearby in the gym bleachers Marco tried not to fall asleep.

Janna and Jackie had to help Star bring in Marco.

"Are you sure you don't want us to walk you home?" Jackie looked at Marco. "You look like your ready to drop."

"No, no I'm fine." Marco shook his head, "I'm going to support Sabrina and Brittney."

"Are you sure?" Janna gave him a small smack to keep him awake, "I mean, I heard Sabrina snapped at you."

"Yeah, never thought I'd see that." Star agreed, "I'm starting to think that tentacle is a bad influence on her."

"Talking about that tentacle," Janna began, "is there any chance I could get you to give me one of those too."

The bags under Marco's eyes really focused Marco's glare.

Before he could answer from the other side of the gym the door was slammed open. Sabrina stood there with her tendril wriggling as she looked around.

"About time you show!" Brittney yelled at her.

"Brittney Wong!" Sabrina yelled out before the tentacle stretched out and grabbed her.

"Let me go this instace-" Brittney stopped at she felt the tentacle squeeze her.

"I am done listening to you!" Sabrina growled at her. "Now for the rest of you!"

Quickly the Tentacle snaked through the air grabbing the other cheerleaders, Jackie, Janna and Star.

Marco had fallen asleep and just fallen to his side just snoring away.

"You have them all!" The Tentacle told Sabrina, "Now let's finish it. Destroy them! Eat their bowels!"

"What?" Sabrina shouted.

"No, I need my bowels!" Brittney let out.

"Whoa! I just wanted to be a little more popular and get some more attention and treated a little nicer. I didn't want to eat any bowels."

"You're useless. I'll just do it myself." Tentacle opened wide its mouth.

The girls started to scream, Sabrina started to smack at it with her good arm.

"Marco! Wake up!" Star shouted, "Oh, what was that trick Pony Head told me about… Hey Marco Princess Puri Puri Pearl just invited you for a beach party! She's going to be showing off her new bikini!"

Marco snapped up awake, He blinked twice, "What's going on?"

"And whose this Puri Puri Pearl?" Janna questioned.

"We'll get her too." The Tentacle assured her.

"What's going on?!" Marco looked around.

"Oh, yeah, this happened faster than should have. The girl must be easily swayed." Glossaryck popped out of Marco's hood.

"What are you doing here?"

"Oh, yeah, I figured you might need me so I decided to tag along in you hoodie. Now, as for your first question the curse is about to finish stage four and is entering stage five."

"What? What was stage was a talking tentacle?"

"Stage 3, you stopped me before I finished. Stage three: Healed bone "hatches" into a sentient tentacle being. Followed by stage four: tentacle being turns evil, implants negative and destructive thoughts into the mind of the host, causing them to behave in erratic, possibly lethal ways. Stage five: tentacle being eventually takes over the control of the host. It all ends with stage six where the host dies."

Sabrina paled hearing that.

"Yeah, never mind about giving me a tentacle arm." Janna gulped, "It's been nice knowing you Sabrina."

"Marco, right now might be the best time to use that spell." Glossaryck in formed him as she hovered onto the bleachers.

"Arm-" Marco didn't get to finish the spell as the tentacle flung the girls it had capture at him.

"Levitato!" Marco changed spells quickly levitating all the girls and bring them to the floor safety. As she sighed in relief it was short lived as the tentacle grabbed him instead.

"I'll just have to take you out first." The tentacle's smiled spread wide.

It slammed Marco onto to the ceiling before throwing him down to the ground with a loud crash.

"Marco!" Most of the gym yelled out.

There was a crack and Marco got up, "Ow! That wasn't pleasant, but it woke me up and I think it got the kink out of my neck."

"What?" Jackie stared in shock.

"He's not human," Glossaryck told him, "he is Mewman and a bit tougher than you run of the mill human. Plus his family tends to have the blessing from Old Frill Neck. They can take a hit but I wouldn't press his luck."

"Returneo Aremo Normalredicus!" Marco yelled out raising his wand.

The tentacle dodged the magic blast dragging Sabrina along. Marco fired several more shots and the monster arm continued to dodge.

"Stay still!"

Each missing blast struck something and turning it into an arm, a hand ball became an actual hand.

The tentacle stretched out into the rafters dragging Sabrina along, swinging her despite how much she was yelling.

Marco usually had better aim but after getting so little sleep and hitting his head recently it was failing.

"Shame really," Glossaryck mused out loud, "considering how effective the curse is on that girl I'd give her another five minutes. Lady Death should probably be getting a reaper ready to pick her up. Hm, too bad she and Marco would have made a cute couple. I could just see it, them getting married and having a couple of rugrats. Sabrina would make them pudding cakes all the time and I could sneak some."

"Wait, what about what?" Star look at the little man in horror.

"She makes good cakes which she won't be able to do when she's dead."

"What?" Jackie panicked,

"Yeah, the curse will soon override her mind leaving nothing but her body controlled by the monster arm. And the body will go the way of her mind in a few hours. Sure, Marco could probably reverse it now but he'd need to land a shot."

Marco continued to fire hoping to strike the ever wiggly arm.

Sabrina's mind felt strange, everything was feeling cloudy.

"Ah! Marco fire!" Sabrina blinked as she found Star jumping on her trying to keep her from being dragged along.

"Do it!" Janna jumped on the tentacle trying to wrangle it.

Soon Jackie grabbed her legs trying to pull her down.

"You three girls think you will be enough to stop me?" The tentacle rolled it's eyes. It grabbed one of the ceiling rafters ready to pull Sabrina away.

"No, you don't!" Chantel jumped on Sabrina.

The other cheerleader jumped on her pulling her down.

Sabrina felt Brittney's arms wrap around her, "You might be the worst cheerleader on the squad but you're my cheerleader, and I'm not going to let talking hentai material steal from me!"

The monster arm huffed finding all the extra weight a bit difficult to move.

Now with the appendage still Marco raised his wand again, "Returneo Aremo Normalredicus!"

As the magic struck the tentacle it dropped the girls as it began to shrivel.

"Ack! You'll never get rid of me! I'm apart of you now!" it began to fade and its voice began to get high-pitched, "You can treat the symptoms, but you'll never cure the viruuuus…!"

Sabrina's hand snap back to normal and with another snap it hung at a strange angle still broken.

Sabrina groaned in pain.

"Brilliant!" The judge let out, "Very creative, very avant-garde, what a wonderful performance. Not many performances go out to tell a lesson about the how our own selfishness and corrupt us and how only through the kindness of our friends can we be saved."

"Ah, sure," Brittney quickly agreed.

0000

At the nurse's office everyone got patched up, they mostly just had a few bruises. Sabrina had the worse of it with her broken arm. But since Sabrina enrolled in the school the nurse had become very good at treating broken bones. Marco and the rest waited to see Sabrina.

"Ugh," Marco groaned, "this is all my fault, maybe I should go back to Mewni before I hurt some else!"

"No!" the girls let out.

"Are you kidding me?" Nurse Batterbrook walked out of the office. "Sabrina is probably safer with you around."

"What?" Marco was finding it hard to believe at the moment.

"Since the day you brought her in she's stop coming her as often. Some days she doesn't come in at all."

"Yeah, come to think of it," Star rubbed her chin, "didn't she trip on the on the stairs the other day but you used that levado-potatoe spell to get her before she hit the ground?"

Janna added, "Didn't you also notice a crack on the ceiling above her desk? You told her moved to move and caught the janitor to look at it, soon as he poked at it fell all over her desk. Would have hit her if you didn't do that."

"And last week you pulled her away from before a roof tile slipped off the roof and hit her." Jackie told Marco.

"And you pulled her out of the street when that car didn't stop at the light," Chantel remembered that incident.

"And you told her not to get the lunch room meat loaf," Brittney recalled, "you said it looked wrong, and you were right half of the people who ate it got sick."

The other cheerleaders started to come up with examples, since Sabrina tried to hang around Marco and he had a talent to noticed the danger that naturally popped up around her he was able to stop them.

"You see Marco," Star smiled, "you actually save her."

Marco smiled, trying to find some solace at that. "Can I talk to her?"

The nurse said it was fine and he went in.

0000

"I am so sorry!" Marco couldn't help but apologize over and over again.

"Marco, it was an accident and besides this happens to me all the time." Sabrina pointed to her new cast.

"Still, I want to make it up to you." Marco was struck with inspiration, "How about I help you out while you have the cast? I'll help carry your books to your classes and I'll help you with anything you need. I'll get your lunch and everything."

"Ah, will you eat lunch with me too?"

"Of course, I'll stay by you as much as I can and get you anything you need."

"Yeah," Sabrina blushed, "I think that would be nice."

0000

Some time later Star walked into the nurse office, "Hey Marco, are you ready to go home?"

Star quickly found Sabrina on the bed resting from the long day and to Star's surprise she found Marco had fallen asleep next to her. Their head leaning against each other as they slept, a grin forming on the cheerleader's face.

Star smiled at the cute pair, "I guess Glossaryck was right they do make a cute couple, plus the cake would be nice."

Star also noticed a small mole on Sabrina's arm, "did she always have that?"

* * *

 **Author's notes: Hello everyone, it's me writing this passed midnight. I wanted to finish this. For this one a lot got changed from canon. So let me know what you all think. I hope you like it and please leave a review telling me what you think.**


	9. Chapter 9: Freeze Day

**Prince Marco Vs The Forces of Darkness**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Star vs the forces of evil.**

* * *

Chapter 09: Freeze Day

Marco was anxious, more so than usual.

"Come on Star we're going to be late." Marco told his roommate in their shared bathroom.

Star was fixing up her hair, "We've got plenty of time. Look school doesn't start for a half hour, and it won't take us that long to get there. I just need five minutes."

"Half Hour?" Marco focused on that word.

"Yeah, look at the clock." Star pointed to an old chicken shaped clock that hung on the wall.

"The hands haven't moved, it was like that the last time I check it." Marco started to panic.

Star leaned over and poked the clock. "Huh, I think the batteries might be dead, " Star quickly pulled out her cell phone, "oh!"

"Oh? What do you mean oh?!"

"Yeah, class start in five minutes."

"Five minutes?!"

"Don't worry I'll get us a ride. My mom is working from home today I'm sure I can get her to drop us off. We will just be a little late. She'll write us a note and we won't even get in trouble."

"That's not the issue! I have to be at my locker in two minutes!"

"Two minutes? Oh, is that the nodding thing?"

"Yes!"

"Marco, Marco, Marco, why are you still doing that?"

"What do you mean?"

"Every day right before class starts Jackie skates back and you lean back trying to look all cool by your locker. You give her a nod and don't say anything. If you like her why don't you just say Hi. Or just ask her out!"

"I can't do that! I just can't! I have to be sure she's not going to laugh at my face."

"Marco, you sorta asked Mina out and isn't she like your crush or one of your crushes, by the way what's the deal with that Puri Puri girl?"

Marco blushed, "She-Not going to talk about that?"

"Okay, what about Jackie. She thinks your cool, you need to do what you did with Mina and talk to her and get to know her. You'll be less nuts around her. Besides she's already hanging around you."

"No, she's hanging around you and Janna. She's only around me because I'm around you."

"Ask her out!" Star told him again, "Nothing bad happened with Mina."

"First thing, that wasn't a date. Secondly, Mina is my knight she's under direct orders not to laugh at me. My mother makes that very clear with the knights."

Star raised an eye brow at the strange comment but ignored it for the moment, "You just need to find time to spend with Jackie. If you want I can try to get Janna away and leave you two alone."

"I don't really have the time anyway, my sword practice, my spells practice, and all that on top of school work." Marco looked at the clock again, " Besides we are going to be late!"

Star quickly took out her scissors and waved it in front of him, "Dimensional scissors~"

"Fine!" Marco hated using the scissors too often, his parents raised him telling him to respect their power and not to over use them. He warned Star that bad things happened if she over used them, though he wasn't sure exactly what that was. But this was an emergency.

Quickly they created a rift and grabbing their bags they rushed through.

They found themselves at in front of lockers. Marco started to lean back by the lockers.

Star grumbled, she loved her bestie but hated how he didn't see himself as amazingly as she saw him. Star decided then and there that she would help him out, she took a step forwards as the skater came by.

"Hey Jackie!"

"Hey Star!" Jackie smiled, "Hey Marco."

"HEY JACKIE!" Marco yelled, wincing hearing his own volume.

Star looked at Marco and winked before turning back to Jackie, "Hey Jackie I was thinking of doing something after school. Do you want to hang out?"

"Sure," Jackie gladly accepted.

"Marco, are you free?" Star smiled turning to her friend.

Marco started to blush realizing Star's plan, "No, no, not really. I have lessons today, I just don't have the time."

"Make time!" Star started to get frustrated, "You're the prince change something, you have a magic wand, just say Easy Peasy Time Freezy and stop time."

Marco sighed, Marco pulled out his wand to emphasis his point, "Star it's not as easy as say Easy Peasy Time Freezy,"

A blue light emitted from the wand covering the trio, they heard the ticking of a clock and then the light vanished.

"What was that?" Jackie asked.

They looked around, the bustling school had come to a halt. Everyone around them was caught mid step, unmoving.

"I think I broke time." Marco mumbled.

"You stopped time!" Star yelled out. "Don't you get what this mean! We can do whatever we want! We have all the time in the world!"

Marco was about to protest when Jackie spoke up, "Come on Marco, you said you didn't have time to hang out but now we can hang out all we want."

Marco blushed, "OKAY!"

The trio ran around school doing everything they wanted to do. Star quickly found Lars picking on some small kid and quickly took it to stop him. She gave him an atomic wedgie and yanked the kid away.

Jackie later got on the roof and prepared to do a jump off it, Marco insisting he stay on the bottom and prepare a cushion for her. He summoned up a small mountain of pillows.

Marco himself didn't have much he wanted to do but settled for having a picnic lunch with the girls. Marco went to get a mountain of snacks and made some sandwiches and they gathered together at the school yard.

"This sandwich is really good," Jackie complimented the prince.

"Thanks, it's the sauce, it's a special recipe that the chef at the castle kitchen taught me." Marco noticed that people all around them were still frozen. "I think its time we unfreeze everything."

Star sighed, "I guess so."

She was happy with the results, Marco was still a little flustered around Jackie but a lot less so. They had gotten to talk and Marco was getting used to being around Jackie and just getting to know her as a person.

They went back to the lockers, Marco paused to move Sabrina from where her locker was ready to burst open and drop her books on her.

Now ready Marco held out his wand, "Easy Peasy Time Unfreezy."

Nothing happened.

"Time Go!" Marco wiggled the wand, "Anything?"

The world remained frozen.

"We better get Glossaryck."

0000

They went back to Marco's room and opened up the book to find Glossaryck frozen his face stuck in a strange grotesque expression.

"Oh, no he's frozen too." Marco told them.

"Yeah, I'm not exactly sad," Star clicked her tongue, flipping the page, "Never liked that little pudding thief."

"Is there anyone else that can help?" Jackie suggested.

"Maybe Mina," Marco suggested.

0000

A portal formed in Mina's apartment and the trio walked in.

"Mina!" Marco called, "Sorry to barge in but we have an emergency."

They walked in trying to find her, Marco opened up the doors looking for her. Finally he stopped as he entered the bathroom.

Marco's eyes went wide as he found Mina stepping out of the shower, fortunately she had just finished wrapping a towel around her.

"Hey Marco-" Star walked in behind him and seeing in what state Mina was in she covered Marco eyes, "Nope! Not doing this!" Star dragged a blushing stunned Marco out.

0000

Marco decided that it was better to head to another dimension for help, and deciding to check in on his parents.

"Mom! Dad!" Marco called out as they stepped out of the portal.

Jackie looked around and the dazzling throne room they found themselves in. "Wow! Like wow! He's really a prince."

"Yeah, I thought you knew." Star told Jackie.

"I mean, yeah, but it's not the same as seeing his castle."

"Mom? Dad?" Marco looked his parents frozen as Manfred read to them from a long scroll. "No! No!" Marco quickly began to create several portals and rushed into them.

"They seem nice." Jackie made small talk as Marco rushed in and out of the portals.

"Yeah, you'd love them. His mom is super sweet."

Marco rushed out of the last portal, "Everyone is frozen, Tom, Lekmet and Rhombulus, the Pony Heads-"

Star stopped, 'Marcom calm down."

"Yeah," Jackie added, "let's just go back to your room and look through the book and maybe find something that can help."

0000

In Marco's room, he laid out the book on the floor, "This gonna take a while, this whole thing is a mess, with no order whatsoever. Glossaryck was the only one who knew where everything is. It could take forever."

Marco sat on the floor dejected but both girls sat besides him.

"Don't worry, Marco." Jackie reassured him, "We're here to help."

"Yeah!" Star said with a fist held high, "We'll fix the world no problem!"

0000

It was ten years, ten strange years, Star missed seeing her namesake and it took a while to get used to the fact that it was always sunny. She missed the night, the rain, the feeling of wind and just talking to her parents. She could barely remember their voices now.

Since they were the only people on the planet that could do anything they spent most of their time together.

Star and Jackie got lunch ready and headed outside.

They find Marco, now taller and with a bit more muscle. The large spell book before him, he spent every day trying to find a spell to fix the world. Sitting next to him where two little blonde girls, one with bright blue eyes and a pair of hearts on her cheeks. The other girl had soft green eyes and starburst on her cheeks.

They were only a few years old and Marco's daughter, if he could never find a spell to fix things then he was sure they could. He taught them as much magic he could so one day they could truly meet their grandparents.

The girls noticed Star and Jackie and jumped up happily cheering, "Mommy! Mama!"

They rushed to them.

"Careful girls," Jackie scolded them gently, "you'll make us drop lunch."

Marco walked over smiling, "What did my favorite girls make?" Marco walked over placed an arm around Jackie before giving her kiss.

The small girls giggled as they watched them kiss.

Star smiled at the girls. "I'm sure you'll love what we made."

"I always do." Marco leaned over kissing Star.

Star's heart raced, she loved the feeling of his lips against hers.

0000

"Huh?" Star's eyes cracked open, she found her head resting on Marco's lap.

"I'm sorry did I wake up?" Marco apologized.

"I was sleeping…?" Star blinked the sleep away, getting up and looking at her friends confused.

"Yeah," Jackie added, "You fell asleep after like two pages. You okay?"

"Yeah," Star rubbed her eyes, "just had … and odd dream."

"Well, we found a solution." Marco pointed the pages labeled 'What to do if you stop time' "We have to go to the Plains of Time and restart the Wheel of Progress."

0000

A portal opened to a world where stars and galaxies filled the dark sky, the hilly terrain was littered with clocks as a river cut through them.

Jackie stood and marveled at the sight around her. Star did the same but also took out her cell phone to take a few pictures. "This is gonna be my new desktop."

Marco on the other hand had already found the wheel. "Here it is."

Marco stood before a large gray gear.

"It kinda looks like a hamster wheel." Jackie noted.

"Give me a second and I'm have it back up and running." Marco jumped on it, he tried to run on it forcing it to move for that not to work. He jumped off and then tried to push the gear into moving.

Marco jumped off and held out his wand, "Momentum Blast!"

A red blast struck the gear only to bounce off..

"Yeah, magic isn't going to work on that. You gotta use the magic of toesies."

"Who are you?" Star asked.

There sitting on the ground was a large blue man in a white tunic playing with rocks. He had a long white beard and a smile on his face.

"I'm Father Time. And this is Rocksworth." He held out a random stone, "He's a rock, but don't bring it up. He's kind of sensitive about it."

"Father Time?" Marco asked him,"You must be the one to push this thing?"

"Hey, look! I'm over here!" He moved a little to the left and then moved again, "And now I'm over here."

"How long were you on that wheel?" Star questioned the man.

"Oh, you know… forever. Until someone cast a freeze spell and knocked me off of it. What is that?" He jumped into a mud puddle.

"That's mud," Marco cringed seeing a grown man play in the mud.

"Oh, it's glorious! I love mud!" Father time started to lick the mud.

"So, Mr. Time," Jackie started off trying to be respectful and polite, "how would you feel about getting the universe started up again?"

"Oh, where has this been all my life?" Father Time wasn't paying attention.

Star picked up some mud and slathered it on the heel, "You can play with mud on your wheel."

"That is an enticing offer, but nah." Father Time waved her off. "Oh look there's some mud but with a slightly different color!" He quickly ran off. "Oh a twig! There's a bush! I don't even know what that this is, but it's waddling."

It was a goose.

"You can't leave time stopped!" Marco rushed after him. "Everyone we know will be frozen forever!"

The girls quickly chased after them.

"What's this?" Father time found a door and when it whooshed open he rushed through it to explore.

As the group reached them but the doors slammed closed and refused to budge.

A short distance away they noted Father Time now sitting on a speedy turtle almost like he was mocking them.

"Yolo! Anything is possible!" Father Time cheered way ahead of them.

The trio quickly found a rabbit and they climbed on it to give chase.

"Hey Bunny Go!" Jackie urged the rabbit on.

Only to realize the rabbit was slower than they were.

"Okay, now this is just silly." Star bemoaned.

"I hate this dimension." Marco grumbled.

They walked around for a while after that trying to find Father Time again, and they found him playing in a river.

They didn't wait and chased after him again. Father Time was on the other side of the river and they went to it but Marco stopped them sensing something.

Marco reached out and touch the surface of the water, his hand grew old and shriveled.

"Ah!" The teen screamed.

Marco's hand reverted and went back to normal.

"Okay, not doing that!" Star shouted.

"Rainbow Bridge!" Marco pulled out his wandas a multi colored bridge formed before them, eaching the other side of the river.

They ran on it to chase after Father Time, they caught sight of a large gray building and rushed into it.

"Whoa!" Jackie let out amazed at all the screen around them showing countless images from history.

"This must keep track of all the history of the universe." Marco marveled at the sights before them.

"Oh, cool the Byzantine Empire." Jackie chuckled, "I have a thing for history."

A giant eyeball extended down from the ceiling and looked right at Star. All the screens now showed a baby Star in a crib.

"Hey that's me!" Star pointed at the screens.

The screen suddenly changed to see a bit older star playing dolls with her father.

The screens changed again, to Star's first day at school. Star hid behind her parents afraid but calmed down as her mother smiled at her telling her it would be fine and they would pick up soon.

The screens flashed, Now a young Star and Janna grabbing all sort of things to get ready to play a prank.

Next showed Star on a skateboard screaming at the top of her lungs as she moved super fast down a tall hill. Jackie was racing behind her telling her how to stop.

Present Jackie chuckled, "I kept telling you to use your heel to stop."

"Yeah," Star chuckled.

The screens changed, its showed Star and Oskar sitting on the hood of his car, Star holding his hand as he played his key-tar.

The next thing they showed was Star fighting monsters with Marco.

Star smiled, "Heh, I've had a pretty cool life."

The eye next turned to Jackie and the screens began to flash scenes of her life.

The first one up was a baby Jackie kicking off her baby blanket.

The next scene was of Jackie walking into pre-school waving at her friends as she did.

Then the scenes showed Jackie getting her first skateboard from her uncle.

The screens showed a young Jackie at a skateboard competition.

"I remember this," Jackie smiled, "I didn't even place during this completion but I had so much fun and met so many nice people and they gave me so many tips."

The screen flashed to show Jackie sitting by the beach watching the waves roll in. She looked down to the necklace she held in her hand.

Next the screens showed Jackie sitting in a chair at the mall Star, and Janna holding her hands. A bunch of her friends nearby offering her support. An attendant making holes in her ear for the extra earrings she wanted.

Jackie moved her hair revealing all the earring she now had, happy that she went through it.

Marco smiled, he liked getting to see this little scenes of their lives.

The eye turned to Marco, making him feeling terribly uneasy.

The screens were filled with static before a they showed a baby Marco in his crib. Baby Marco looking up at his parents wide eyed, they looked at him with nothing but love and adoration.

A strange man with a crystal head and snake hands stood by them gushing over the baby. Floating there, Glossaryck studied the baby with a clinical eye. Standing nearby a red haired woman in a yellow dress, Star was sure she'd seen her somewhere before but wasn't sure where, stood next to that crystal ball with weird skull she saw Marco's mom talk to and an old looking goat man. Th trio traded confused and concerned looks.

The next scene showed a baby Marco, A Baby Pony head, and Baby Tom nestled together on a pink floating cloud with a smile on its face.

"I forgot about this," A small grin formed on Marco's face." We were born only months apart. Our parents had this huge party for us when we met and we just fell asleep together."

There was a flash as Star held out her cell phone, " _That's_ my new desktop."

"You're so adorable." Jackie smiled.

Marco looked at the screen watching him cuddle Pony head like she was a pillow. He reached out touching the screen just as it changed.

Marco took a step back.

It showed baby Marco as two of the guards dressed him as a princess, giving him even a plastic princess crown. They laughed at the confused baby. Behind them moved close Angie, a great deal of power wafting over her as a terrifying scowl formed over her face.

The screen changed before they saw what happened next.

The image showed a toddler Marco playing in the castle, next to him was his play mate a red haired boy with freckles and green eyes.

"We used to play every day…" Marco mumbled, "He was the child of someone that worked in the castle." Marco smiled as his friend held out a wooden sword promising to be a great knight one day and protect him, baby Marco clapped happy at the idea of having someone always around. Suddenly a large knight came over pulling them away.

"I never saw him after that." Marco quickly frowned.

The next scene was that of Marco in the kitchen as one of his chefs showed him how to crack an egg properly. Since Marco's parent were often busy he found all sort of people to help him out.

The scene changed again showing Marco surrounded by large crystals as he and the crystal headed man sparred. The crystal man giving him instructions to fix his form.

The scene changed to that of a fancy ball, Marco sitting next to Tom and Pony Head all dressed up. A girl with a rather large nasty swollen spider bite on her face moved over and offered her hand to Marco. Marco took it and they moved to the floor and began to dance. Marco couldn't really say he was happy to being asked to dance. He was the last person asked, not counting Pony Head or Tom as they asked him just so he wouldn't be last. The only reason the Spider Bite Princess asked to dance is because she had to. They dance together, the girl looked at him with a mix of pity and distain, what kind of princes was he that his own people didn't like him as much as tolerate him.

The scene showed Marco alone in the forest, he knew the path well, his friends were no where to be seen and bored and alone he went on a hike like he often did. Pony Head was doing her own thing and Tom busy with his own duties. Slowly a pack of Dire Wolves moved around him and he pulled out a sandwich from his bag. They join him and took what scraps he offered them. Marco petted their Alpha's head, he'd befriended the animals a while ago and sometimes it seemed like the only being who would make time for him.

The scene changed to show Marco walking down a hall in his castle with books of ancient languages and basic of magic. Glossaryck floating before him, his mom mastered the wand so now all Glossaryck was doing was getting him ready to take the wand. Marco was proud of all the effort he was doing, he would do everything to be a good king. A pair of ladies nearby by were whispering about him, why the prince should even bother as Mewni would never accept him unless he was a princess.

A young teen Marco with pimples rushed with Tom and Pony Head at his side, an army of pirates, ninjas, knights and all sorts of monsters chasing behind them. Marco was happy, it was one of the few times the three of them got to be together, it was also one of the last.

The next scene showed Marco on the day he was receive the wands. People were bustling and moving all through the castle. But as Marco walked he could hear people whispering about him, 'He's not a princess, does he really think he'll be able to use the wand,' "Hey look there goes _Princess_ Marco heh,' 'Ugh, I can't believe we're stuck with a useless prince,' Marco rushed forwards hopping to ignore them and focus on the wand. 'Princess Marco'

"…No…." Marco said.

Suddenly all the screens around him, showing images from all his life, about people teasing him, calling Princess, saying that he was wrong, that he was a mistake and that he would never be good enough. There were hundreds, there were thousands of examples splayed before him.

Tears filled Marco's eyes "…please stop…please" Marco's voice was weak, like some who'd asked for it to stop so many times but it never did.

"Marco?" Jackie asked the prince.

Marco turned away trying to hide tears, trying not to see that look in their eyes, that pity. He didn't want to be pitted. Marco sobbed silently unable to stop himself from crying. It was one thing to experience that all his life but to then have it all thrown in his face all at once was too much. He held himself trying to stop crying, this wasn't not the behavior of a prince. But then it seemed like his own people didn't seem to think of him as one so why even bother.

Marco felt a pair of warm arms wrap around him, he turned to find Jackie hugging him.

"It's gonna be fine." He found Star wrapping her arms around him and her leaning her head on his shoulder.

They stayed silent as Marco finished sobbing, they never judged him or said a word just let him get it out.

"What's this?" Father Time walked into the room.

Marco broke away from their grip, "We have to get you back on the wheel." Marco focused on the task at hand, he wiped the tears away.

The eye now turned to Father Time, the screen flashing images of him running on the wheel, the stars and galaxies changing over the countless years as he continued running. His expression slowly getting depressed as he did.

"Wow…." Father Time mumbled, "I've really been running for a long time."

"I can't make you get back on the wheel." Marco shook his head, it wouldn't be right to make this man suffer for everyone's sake.

"It's not so bad…" The old man tried to smile.

A large blue hamster moved over to Father Time and he scratched it's head.

"Hey! I have an idea!" Star spoke up with renewed hope.

0000

"Not what I was expecting?" Jackie smiled.

They hooked up several of the large hamster to the wheel so they could pull it, Father Time now sitting on top of it.

"This is great!" Star smiled at her work, "Now you can keep the wheel moving and see everything!"

"This is great!" Father Time smiled, "But try not to stop time again, it's a fragile thing."

The trio waved at him before Marco made another portal for them. They quickly step through it and found themselves back in school as the world moved on.

"We better head to class." Marco said as he began to head out. He wiped off the last of his tears and walked towards class, there was so much left to do.

Star and Jackie stayed back for a moment.

"I like that about Marco," Jackie said like an after thought.

"What?" Star asked confused.

"No matter how many times he falls down, no matter how often he gets knocked down, he gets back up and keep going forwards. He doesn't give up."

Star smiled, "Yeah, I like that about him too."

Star watched Marco walking away, a strange tight feeling forming in her chest.

0000

In Mewni, a portal formed in the throne room and pair of boot stomped out announcing the presence of the forger of the scissors.

"Your Majesties," the red haired woman greeted the royals before her.

"Hekapoo?" Angie wondered, "What are you doing here?"

"This is an odd question, but did someone just open up a lot of portal all at once?"

"No."

"I swear I could have sensed someone using a pair of stolen scissors and abusing them. I really got up my game." Hekapoo huffed as her finger fiddled with the scissors in her hand, she wondered what she'd do when she tracked down those who stole her scissors.

* * *

 **Author's Note: Hey everyone. I hope you liked this chapter, it was pretty fun. I did put a bit of rush into since I'm not sure If I could work in the following week. Plus the next chapter has some complications that will likely take me longer to write out. Anyway, leave reviews telling me what you think.**


	10. Chapter 10: Back to the Past

**Marco Vs The Forces of Darkness**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Star vs the forces of evil.**

* * *

Chapter 10: Back to the Past

Boring, that was something Star hating being. She didn't think there would be any chance to be bored when she started living with a magical prince. But here she was in her living room, bored on a Saturday.

Star was there with Jackie, Sabrina, and Janna playing a simple card game trying to kill time.

They had hoped to do something with Marco but that seemed to be a pipe dream.

Then there was a knock on the front door, Star walked to the door and answered it.

"Oh Marco~" Brittney waited on the other side, she was dress in a nice purple dress, "I was free today, and I was wondering-"

"Hey Brittney," Star happily greeted the girl.

The head cheerleader blinked, "Butt-erfly?" Huh? Where's Marco?" Brittney hadn't really paid attention when the door opened up and just go into a speech she had planned out.

"Marco is out." Star told her, waving inside.

Brittney stomped in, "What? Where is he? When is he coming back?"

"He's on Mewni," Star started to explain, "Mina is taking him on a retreat through a forest there so he can practice his sword fighting in different locations and environments. I'm not sure when he's going to be back, he said he'd probably be late. I think he's probably going to check in with his parents, probably have dinner with them."

Brittney let out an exacerbated sigh and she let herself drop onto the couch, "Oh great! I cleared my schedule to spend the afternoon with Marco but he's not even here."

"Hello Brittney." Sabrina greeted her.

Brittney looked at her, "What are you doing here? When did you show up?"

Janna annoyed by her behavior decided to grab the last of the cookies that Sabrina had brought.

She wanted to say something but she had similar plans as she was sure the other girls did too. For the first few days Marco had seemed off, a little shaky.

Janna really couldn't put her finger on what changed, she spotted him by his lockers and then the next thing she saw Marco seemed different. Like something traumatic had struck him in the blink of the eye.

Normally she'd say it just her imagination but in the short time Janna had known Marco she'd gotten a good feel for him. It was like sometimes she knew what he was thinking, but this was not one of those times. She worried about Marco, she hated to think something was bothering him and he wasn't talking about it.

Well, if she wasn't what was bothering him.

"Oh!" Star perked up, "I have an idea!" She pulled out her pair of scissors. "Marco took us to somewhere really cool!"

0000

Moments later the group stepped out onto the Plains of Time.

They were all of just waiting for Marco and that was getting boring.

Most of the girls marveled at the strange new world before them. They didn't have much in the way of plans but just looking for a distraction.

"EEP!"

The girls turn around to find Sabrina tackled to the ground by large blue hamsters.

Sabrina giggled at the nuzzling of the large fuzzy creatures.

"They seem to like you." Father Time said from his wheel.

"I'm good with animals." Sabrina chuckled fending off the kisses from the rodents.

"Star! Jackie!" The blue man greeted the girls, "It's been an age! Or has it been an infinitesimally small fraction of time in the eyes of an immortal doomed to roam this wasteland alone and unfulfilled?" Father Time gave them a thousand yard stare, "Ha ha ha! I have no idea, How have you been?"

"Hey Father Time!" Star greeted the blue man, and idea struck her, "Hey do you mind if we borrow your wheel?"

Father Time shrugged and jumped off the wheel, "Sure thing."

"Ah, Star?" Jackie questioned her friend as she pulled Sabrina from the hamsters. "What are you planning?"

"Let's go to Mewni!" Star held out her hands with a flurry.

"You wanna go check on Marco?" Janna wagered a guess.

"Maybe," Star smiled, "we can cover a lot more ground with a ride and even if we don't find him he'll end up at the castle sooner or later. Plus I just want to ride this thing at least once."

Brittney huffed before she started to climb onto the wheel, "Fine, but I'll drive this thing."

"Why you?" Janna questioned, "Have you ever rode hamster before?"

"No, but I've ridden horses and can't be that much different."

Janna couldn't come up with an argument for that, she and Jackie helped Sabrina climb up as Star created a portal to Mewni.

Star climbed up the wheel, "Let's go!"

Brittney snapped the reins and the hamster pulled the wheel into the portal.

Father Time waved good bye before looking around, "So this is boredom? Amazing!"

0000

The girls found themselves screaming in a whirl of chaos and clocks.

"This has never happened before!" Star screamed holding onto the wheel.

Normally the portal was instantaneous but suddenly they found themselves in a whirling corridor of energy and clocks.

"Make this stop!" Brittney yelled out as she pulled on the reigns, that didn't do anything as there was no ground for the hamster to halt on.

The spun around wildly and Star pulled out her scissors and cut a new portal.

It happened too fast for them to take it all in, they crashed with a huge bang.

"Let's not do that again." Sabrina clung to the wheel.

"That was unpleasant." Jackie agreed shaking a bit.

"I think we made it to Mewni." Star looked around.

They were on a strange field with large crystals scattered all around. It didn't look all that familiar but above lay three moons and at a distance a large fairy tale castle.

"Yeah, the moons are a give away," Janna fixed her hat. "How long were we there? It's gotten dark already."

Janna noticed that sun was already setting.

"We better start heading to the castle." Jackie suggested as she looked at the wheel that now lay on its side. "We're gonna need help to get this back up. We need to get this back to Father Time so he can keep time going - Wait, time still going with this out? Or was it Marco's spell-"

Three huge pyramid like figures crashed around them.

The lead one bellowed out, "You are in the Forbidden Fields! As decreed by King Diaz-"

"Wait!" Janna let out, "I know that 1930s Radio announcer screechy voice, "Will?"

The figure leaned in letting the light hit the girls a better, "Janna? Star? Jackie? Sabrina? Brittney?"

"Hey!" Star waved at the giant, "Did Marco give you guys an upgrade or something? You're huge?"

No wonder they didn't recognize them at first, the little chip was now a huge freaking pyramid.

Will and his clones looked each other confused, "What happened? How are you here?"

"Oh," Star shrugged, "we took the wheel of progress and my scissors and stuff got weird."

One of the clones picked up the wheel with ease and the other picked up the hamsters.

Will bent down and quickly scooped up the girls into his hands. "We have to get you to Marco. He's got to see you right away."

Soon the giants sprinted across the field, Star looked around trying to spot Marco from a distance but the encroaching darkness made it had to spot anything. As they made it into the kingdom Star didn't even notice other people or anything. It looked quite, it must have been because it was getting dark.

She looked up at the shinning moon and saw a large crystal hanging in the air, she was certain she was seeing a huge cloud in the middle of it.

Before she could ask about it the pyramid jumped landed in the in front of the castle.

"Your Majesty!" Will yelled, "I have found something you have to see."

One of the halls a shadowed figured walked out.

"Marco's dad?" Janna asked noting the figures wide shoulders.

"Will what's this about?"

The girls all paused and stared confused by this new player.

Star was the first one to find their voice, "…Marco?"

It was clearly Marco but he was different, he was older, like in his early twenties. His hair was feathery and now had a crown on it. He wore a black royal jacket with red trimming and golden tassels.

"Whoa…" Jackie let out.

"He got hotter." Brittney whimpered.

Janna would have commented on that but, "…Yeah,"

Marco had gotten taller and like she had guessed he'd gotten broad shoulder and buff like his father. It looked good on him.

As Marco moved onto the balcony he got a better look at the girls, he stared at them unsure of what to make of this. He quickly leapt off the balcony firing a blast from his wand to give him a boost. He quickly landed besides the girls and pulled them into a big hug.

"Your back!"

Sabrina whimpered into the nice warm hug as she found herself sandwiched between Marco and Brittney.

Star blushed, "Marco? What happened?"

0000

They found themselves in the great hall, sitting at the dinner table with dozen of servants running around them placing food before them.

"You vanished," Marco began the explanation, "I got back from my expedition with Mina and none of you were there. Your dad called you," he looked at Star, "we thought you'd just gone off to hang out with your friends… probably forgot to charge your phone."

Star patted her pockets, "Huh, yeah, I didn't even remember to bring it."

"Marco continued, "The next day you hand't shown up and your mom started to get worried and we starting to search for you. Thats when he found out all of you had gone missing." Marco looked at his plate of food poking it with a fork, "We didn't find any sign of you, any of you. Your parents were all in a panic. It didn't take me too long to come up with the idea that you might have gone to another dimension."

Marco let out a long tired sigh.

"I called Pony Head and Tom to see if they had seen you and they hadn't. I looked everywhere I could, I even checked in with Father Time, not that he said anything that made sense. We lost him soon after, he got lost in the Plains of Time. My mom was worried too, she got Omnitraxus Prime and Hekapoo to help look for you but even with their abilities didn't find any sign of you."

Marco looked down running his hands through his hair, "I- I- I- i blamed myself. I kept telling myself it was my fault. That I should have taken those scissors from you. To keep you from falling into what ever dimension you all fell into never to come back from."

The fork in his hand crumbling a bit.

"Marco…" Star stretched over putting a hand on his, "It's not your fault, who could have guessed I would have hurled us into the future!"

"Maybe messing with portals and adding a magical time wheel should have raised some red flags." Brittney grumbled.

"You can get us home, right?" Jackie perked up. "We go back to the past then none of this happens. We don't go missing."

Marco looked at her with a heart breaking expression, "I'm sorry, we can't do that. The same rule as with Mina. If anyone here tries to help you get back the timeline would crumble in on itself. The paradox would be…." Marco gulped, "there would be no magic to prevent the nightmares that would follow."

The girls stared at Marco in shock, in the blink of an eye they lost a decade. They never got to go to school with their friends, they lost so many birthdays and holidays with their families, all that could have been was gone.

Marco tried to smile, "It's been…. it's been a long day and you must all be exhausted. This is all a lot to take in. I've had my servants prepare some quarter for you. Try and get some rest, in the morning we'll try and sort this out. Manfred!" Marco called over the servant.

Manfred was still Manfred, his hair now gray but he was still him, "Yes, my King, I will see that they are taken care of."

0000

"If you need anything don't hesitate to ask." Manfred bowed out leaving the girls in their bedroom.

It was a lavish room with five four-post beds. Laid on the beds were silk sleeping gowns along with new bedding.

The girls were silent, just trying to come to grips with everything.

"….So," Janna began, "Marco is a hunk and we're in the future."

Sabrina hugged her pillow, "Our parents probably think we're dead."

"Yeah, I was trying to dance around that."

"Marco is king." Star spoke up.

"I noticed." Brittney told her. "The crown was a give away."

"I mea-" Star began, "he'd only become king if something…. something happened to his mom, right?"

No one spoke for a moment.

"I mean, none of us were there… it must have been rough for him." Jackie let in a sad tone.

None of them liked this future and every moment they found something else they didn't like.

0000

They talked for a while trying to comfort one another, try and find some way to make things better.

"No! I don't accept it!" Star had enough, "There has to be a way back!"

"It doesn't look like there is," Janna told her, "Well, not without ripping time-space a new one."

"I don't know about you," Star got up, "there are a lot of things I wanted to do! I wanted to go to prom! I wanted to Hang out with Marco at school! I wanted my dad to teach me to drive a car! If I'm going to skip all those years I'm not going to do it without a fight!"

Jackie smiled, "Yeah, I'm with you but do you have any idea how to do that?"

Star let her shoulder slump answer that.

"That little blue freak." Brittney chirped up, "I bet if there is anyone who would have a clue it would be him."

"Yeah!" With renewed hope Star jumped up, "He's Marco's teacher he's got to be around here somewhere."

0000

They got out of the room and walked down the halls. Everything was dark and they assumed everyone was asleep. They'd been to the castle a few times so they figured they could find their way without troubling anyone. They could have waited until morning but Star was insisted.

"If I was the blue pudding thief were would I be?" Star tapped her chin.

"He's basically a living book, the library?" Jackie offered.

As they walked Sabrina paused as she heard something coming from one of the dark halls.

"Hello?" Sabrina blinked, "Is someone there?"

A shadow moved around and quickly jumped around.

"Wait-!" Sabrina let out but was stopped as the figured landed before and placed a hand over her mouth.

"Let her go!" Star demanded.

"Shhhh!" The figure let out, "Be quiet or it will hear us."

A loud thunder like roar echoed through the halls.

"Oh no."

One of the halls began to shine with light and a terrible growl.

"We have to run! To the wise man!" The figure dressed in a raggedy old cloak jumped before them. "Follow me!"

The girls paused unsure of what to do, but then they saw thunder in the shape of a savage wolf scream out, ripping through the halls.

"Taiga?" Brittney stared dumbfounded.

This spells didn't seem to recognize them rushing towards the tearing the hall apart as if ready to swallow them whole.

The girls ran after the stranger, desperate to escape the savage beast.

"Down here!" The figure paused and waved them at a corner. The moved into the side hall just in time to avoid the gaining beast as it rushed down the hall.

The stranger huffed, "It can't make turns well. It will buy us some time. Hurry!"

The stranger ran ahead the girls quickly followed.

Taking a few more turns the stranger pushed open a pair of large oak doors. "Hurry inside."

As they heard growls the girls rushed in and closed the door behind them.

The girls didn't know what to expect all the found was a pillar holding a large book and the book surrounded by pudding cup both empty and not.

The cloaked figure pulled off their cloak revealing themselves.

"You're a frog monster?" Star blinked, "And a girl?"

She looked to be a bit younger than they were.

"Yes, my name is Katrina." She gave them a small smile before returning to the book, "Oh wise man, I ask for your help again."

The book flipped open and Glossaryck popped out. "Hello Katrina, its good to see you again." He blinked, "Oh I was wondering when you would show yourselves."

Katrina stepped up and pulled out a few pudding packs from her pack. "I brought you the offering."

"Thank you! I don't know why but the chefs here just can't make swamp stew pudding. I don't know why." Taking the cup he smiled, "Here is my end of the deal."

With a wave of his hand food materialized and quickly filled the girl's pack.

"What's going on?" Brittney shouted.

"Business," Glossaryck put it bluntly, "the girl and her village need food stuff, I provide in turn for some pudding. I mean, Marco gives me as much pudding as they can make but sometimes I want something else. I know it looks like I'm giving them the better end of the deal but considering all the hoops she has to run to get here. I know some of her siblings haven't made it."

"Why was Taiga like that?" Star yelled, "Taiga was like a puppy last time and now-"

"Security system," Glossaryck told her, "Marco modified the spell to attack anyone in the halls, most people know not to be out there after curfew."

"Fine! Whatever! How do we get back home?" Star demanded of the little blue man.

"Oh you want to keep Marco from becoming the Crystal King?"

"Crystal King?" Janna quirked at the name.

"Crystal King? The King of the Crystal Prisons? The Dark Gem? The Tyrant of Peace? The Czar of Safety? Whatever you want to call him."

"Watcha talking about Glossaryck?" Star blinked.

"You can't be this obvious. Since you arrived haven't you noticed anything weird?"

"The streets looked empty?" Star suggested.

"That field we showed up in has all those crystals now." Janna wagged a finger.

"There was a crystal in the in the sky." Jackie offered up.

"All Marco's cute spells are all huge and scary looking." Sabrina shivered at the memory.

"Yeah, that sounds weird," Brittney looked at the blue man, "instead playing games just tells us what's wrong? Marco has seemed distant since I showed up, his mom or dad aren't around. Not even that Mina girl. If there is something behind it just say it."

Glossaryck sighed, "You happened, or in this case didn't happen."

He waved his hands and a mirror flew into his hand. "Did any of you stop to ask what Marco did after you vanished?"

"He looked for us." Star told him, "Duh,"

"Yes, yes he did. But what do you think the prince did when he didn't find you?"

Katrina shivered at the question to the girls confusion.

Glossaryck continued, "He searched harder. That's when he ran into Ludo."

"The little annoying guy?" Brittney asked.

"Yeah, Ludo went to him promising to return you to him in exchange for the wand."

"But Ludo didn't take us." Janna pointed out.

"Yeah, so when Marco snared him and crushed his bones to force him to return you he didn't have you to give." Glossaryck polished the mirror, "At first Marco thought that Ludo was playing a game, trying to trick him, so he pressed a little harder. And let's say after a week he started to believe Ludo was telling the truth. But by then…. There wasn't much left of him."

The girls cringed at the thought, Jackie spoke up, "That's not something Marco would do."

"Maybe not normally, but desperate and blaming himself for your disappearance he needed something to vent his anger with. Another opportunity came when Ludo's parents got involved, they might not be fans of their son but they wouldn't let this stand. Marco used the accords against them, pointing out their son had attacked him and that it could be seen as an act of war and well…. Marco became the War Prince."

"War Prince?" Sabrina couldn't image that as Marco.

"Mewni for the most part was delighted, they had a reason to go to war with the monsters. It didn't last long. Marco was certain these monster had something to do with you all vanishing. The war lasted one day, he lead the army and with a simple plan flushed the monsters out of the forest."

"How?" Star asked regretting she did.

Glossaryck turned the mirror to show Marco with his wand shooting flames, "He set the Forest on fire, all of it. The army surrounded the forest and captured anyone that fled it. And then he questioned them." Glossaryck cleared his throat, "He began to question them, one by one. Let's say that near the end even Mewmans started to feel for the monsters."

"Marco?" Britteny shivered watching Marco setting fire to monster homes.

"Marco told everyone he did it so the monster wouldn't attack them. So, what happened to you would never happen again. That he was keeping them all safe. All his cruelty came from not being able to protect you."

"Reverse Batman!" Star stared in horror "Marco went reverse Batman, but instead of fighting crime he's pretty much causing it."

"Yeah, he kinda went a little nuts after that." Glossaryck showed them the mirror showing Marco fighting off his own knights. "Marco went on to fight the Underworld when Tom tried to talk some sense into him. He thought the Underworld was too dangerous and to keep people safe he crystallize the whole kingdom."He claimed it kept them safe from themselves and the rest of the universe from them. Then he froze the Cloud Kingdom, honestly things got weird with that place. Pony Head was all docile and letting everyone do what they wanted, the place was a mess. Marco just crystallized the whole place. It got so bad that the High Commission and his own mother tried to stop him it didn't work out for any of them."

Glossaryck rubbed the mirror and the image changed to Marco sitting on the throne alone, crown on his head.

"The loneliness just let him stew with his own fears and insecurity and he grew worse. Soon he started to crystallize his own citizens, whenever they did something that he deemed unsafe." Tapping the mirror again it showed a field with large crystals with mewman in it trying to run away, "Pretty much the only ones left are people too scared to say anything against Marco. Honestly, surprised Manfred made it this far."

"How is this possible?" Janna looked on, "Marco, isn't capable of this stuff? A demon took him over? Some sort of curse? Brainwashing?"

"Nope, it's truly Marco." Glossaryck told them, "100% him. Look no one is all good or all evil, Marco has a darkness deep in him. Something dark forged by the negative emotions expressed by his people, refined by his own loneliness and anger at them and at himself. It got better when he met you, he started to feel better about himself, you all showed him friendship and kindness and help subdue it. But leaving just left a void in him that the darkness used to grow. His rage tied into his magic and began to corrupt him, he took out his frustration, regret, and hatred and started to lash out and everyone using the excuse that he protecting them. The last shred of goodness in him allowing it to continue because he does believe they are safe like this. But it's a terrible cycle, the more he 'protects' them the lonelier he is and the more angry he becomes at himself and the more the darkness festers."

The girls looked at Glossaryck, "Then help us get back!" Star looked on refusing to let her best friend turn into this.

"Nope, can't do that." Glossaryck leaned back tossing the mirror back where it shattered. "Yeah, a universe shattering paradox would take me out too."

"THEN WHAT WAS THE POINT OF TELLING US ALL THAT?" Brittney yelled, her hands shaking, "Why tell us all that? You always seem to know more than you say? I wouldn't be surprise that you knew we time jumped this whole time and just didn't Marco. Now he's turned into this evIl King! My Marco would never be that! My Marco should never have become that!" Brittney gasped, "I wouldn't let him! Why tell us that if we can't do anything about it?"

Glossaryck blinked uncaringly, "I said I couldn't help. Any actions I would take to change the timeline… well, time is tricky it tries to correct itself. Should I try and change the past it would correct itself in someway, or just paradox if any of a billions things go wrong. What I mean is I don't have to help."

"What are you talking about?" Jackie looked on confused. "I've seen my fair share of time travel movies and I don't get it."

"Yeah," Sabrina agreed, "You couldn't help Mina. She couldn't go back because history said she didn't go back."

" We couldn't provide Mina with a way to change time because it would result in a paradox but you brought your own means to time travel. This future doesn't have to provide, and your own future is stll open and if you want to string it back into the past you can."

Star blinked, "My scissors and the wheel! We didn't time travel with a dead monsters! We can go back in time!"

"A little slow but when properly motivated you get there." Glossaryck smiled.

Star already pulled out a pair of scissors and attempt to get back to the hamsters but no portal formed.

Glossaryck smiled," Yeah, Marco set up a tramorfidian crystal and so no portal can form on the castle grounds."

"Okay, so we need to get the hamsters and the wheel and get them off the castle grounds." Jackie started to plan out loud.

"Marco told me his family had a stable, he'd probably have them there with his warnicorns." Sabrina told them.

"If it's a stable we're going to need to keys to get them out." Brittney pointed out.

"If we need keys from Marco I can get them." Janna offered up her help.

"Yeah, if Marco is still like Marco then he should be taking his before bed shower." Star told them.

"Then it's the perfect time to do it." Janna fist pumped.

Sabrina paused and turned to Glossaryck, "Is there anything you can tell us that could help."

"Hm," the magic man tapped his chin, "the only reason that you guys didn't get back is because something didn't work out and you were stopped. So, don't do everything like you'd normally do. And maybe… As that old adage goes: Put a little love in your heart. If you want the world to know, we won't let hatred grow, put a little love in your heart."

"Cryptic and useless!" Brittney shouted.

With some sort of plan the girls headed out to advert destiny.

Katrina looked at Glossaryck, she'd only just understood what was happening, "Do you think they actually do it?"

Glossaryck shrugged, "Probably not, they didn't do it the first time, or the second, ugh, time travel is such a pain. This why we don't tell anyone its possible." Glossaryck blinked, "I wonder if I should have told them about the moon." He shrugged, "I'm sure they'll figure it out later."

Katrina kinda wanted to help but as Glossaryck said they could not change their own past. She could only hope that they would triumph.

0000

The girls found their way through the halls, they were careful not to make any loud noises in case of alerting Taiga. They made their way to Marco's room and quickly entered it thanks to Janna's lock picking skills.

They were quick to search the room, they heard water running in the adjoining bathroom so they had a few moments without Marco to worry about. They riffled through Marco's clothes looking for his keys.

"Got him!" Janna held out the keys finding them in his jacket.

"Okay let's go." Star told them, but as they started to leave they heard the water stop.

What followed next was the sound of foot steps.

"Hide!" Sabrina quickly alerted the rest of the group, without thinking they all hide under the bed.

The girls hid just in time as Marco stepped out of the bathroom.

The girls held their breaths as they planned an escape. Marco hummed a jaunty tune to himself as he prepared to go to bed.

"Okay, this isn't bad." Star tried to remain hopeful, "The first chance we get we have to run out."

Then they heard the sound of a towel dropping onto the floor. The girls looked at each other as they started to blush.

Brittney moved a little closer, Janna didn't fail to notice and placed her hands over the cheerleaders eyes.

"Hey!" Brittney quickly tried to pry her hand off. "Like you weren't about to try it."

"Hush." Sabrina tried to quiet them down.

As the girls continued to feud the other tried to stop them. Then they heard another door close as Marco returned to the bathroom.

"Okay, let's leave now." Jackie hissed dragging the girls from under the bed with her.

They quickly existed the room through the door and walked as fast as they could. Maybe they made too much noise maybe it was just close but they heard Taiga growl.

They took another corner and rushed into the first room they could.

"Okay, so we just wait until we can't hear Taiga anymore and run for it. Just a few minutes." Janna spoke, but stopped as she noted where they were.

It was throne room but in the center of it stood Queen Angie encased in crystal. At the end of the room sat one lone throne and by it stood two figures, one on each end. One was Mina holding out a sword as to slash it at whoever was meant to sit on the throne. On the other side was a red haired woman in a yellow dress lunged at the throne with a pair of daggers.

There was some doubt in Glossaryck's story, they didn't want to believe it but here they saw some solid proof.

The girls stared at the queen, they didn't know what they'd expected but her expression was something else…. A strange mixture of pain and sadness. She had her hands up, magic swirling around them.

"I didn't want you to see this." Marco strode up from the hall in his pajamas and robe. "You've been wandering after curfew."

The girls all took a step back.

"I don't know how I would have told you, to have your own mother turn against you and bring an army to try and kill you." His voice was bitter and angry. "She didn't like the way I was doing things. I guess the army never did, the people never liked me, they joined her without another thought. Mina and the Commissions joined her without another thought."

The girls took another step back.

"It's been a few hard years for me." Marco's thumb ran across his wand. "After that day there was really no going back. I would love to nothing more to move on. But I can't let me, that's why I leave them here. Mina and Hekapoo nearly killed me there, they're a constant reminder never to let my guard down not even to those who I trust. Because there will be people ready to kill you just because they disagree with you." Marco paused as looked at his mother, "And my mother taught me never to hesitate in what you do because your enemy won't."

Marco turned to the girls and held out his wand. "I put a binding spell on everything I own. I noticed the instant that my keys left my room. Now tell my why you took them. Tell my why I don't crystallize you."

"Because we can fix this." Star said, "This, this isn't you."

"Then who am I?"

"Not this." Jackie spoke up, "Marco, I saw your past, you were such a lonely kid. Your own people making fun of you and all that pain and misery, all of that just made you kind. I'm so sorry that we weren't there when it got even worse -I really am- but please let us be."

"What do you mean?" Marco never wavered, never lowered his wand.

Sabrina spoke up, "We can go back. We can be there Marco. Please let us be there. If not for us then for yourself, because Jackie is right, You are one of the kindest people I have ever met and it hurt me to see you like this." Sabrina began to cry.

"I see," Marco's voice was soft, "I'm sorry, but I can't let you. I knew what I was doing, I made my choices and good or ill I'm sticking to them. Don't you hear it? No one is in pain, no one is making fun of anyone, there is no violence, there is no pain. The choices I have made have brought peace to Mewni and if you like them or not, I'm sticking to them. I'm not going to let you take my life, I'm never going to let anyone take anything from me again."

Marco raised his wand as it began to glow, "Good bye my friends. I never got to say that the first time and I am glad that I get to say it now. I promise you won't feel a thing."

"Marco…." The girls whispered together.

The Marco they knew and cared about was long since gone and the man before them just had his name."Cry-"

Something struck Marco.

Katrina jumped him and held him as best she could. "Run!"

The girls were shocked and stunned by the turn of events.

"He's taken my father, my brothers, my sisters! Please don't let this happen!" Katrina yelled crying as she dug her finger in his eyes. Marco tried to pull her off.

Katrina didn't know what she was to doing when she followed the girls, maybe it was curiosity or maybe it was fate. But here she was throwing everything away on a chance. She pulled the wand out of Marco's hand and it flew through the air hitting the floor.

"Run!" Katrina begged them.

Janna bent down and picked up the wand, and they ran. As they left the room they heard Katrina screamed as the sound of a spell going off was heard.

0000

The wand in Janna's hands was strange, it had green bell with a spike on top and a spike beneath the handle. The handle itself was a dark brown and wrapped with ripped dark blue ribbons tied in a small knot at the end. Instead of wings or a sword cross hard it had a bone sticking in the middle. A small green gem hung in the middle of the bell and glowed bright green.

Janna could feel magic in it, could feel the power she had often dreamt of possessing. Why couldn't it make her happy?

Because she knew that something was wrong with Marco and now manner of magic could fix that.

The girls ran down the dark halls as fast as they could.

They paused at the back entrance, there were several figures trap in crystal there, the goat man, the crystal headed man, and many knights. They rushed out into the yard where they saw a young red haired woman in armor leading knights into the castle, all now trapped in crystal. Above them floated a figure with a skull for a head, he too trapped in crystal.

They raced to where they saw the stable.

They reached it quickly and unlocked the doors. They rushed in and found the hamsters and hooked them up to the nearby the large wheel.

Janna held the wand and looked at it, she felt a pull to it something telling her to use it.

"Janna," Moved over to her and placed her hands on Janna's. "Janna you might need to use it, use it against Marco. If any of us has a chance to make a good spell, it would be you."

Star hated to even say that, but she reminded herself this Marco would not show them any mercy.

Janna looked at the wand. "He's here." Janna looked up her eyes meeting Star's, and she swore that for a moment a red light shone on them.

She looked around to see Marco there as any tint of red faded.

"Give me my wand." Marco demanded.

Janna pulled away and held out the wand. Her mind searched for countless spells she'd read about.

But instead the words of the little annoying man rang in her head, 'don't do everything like you'd normally do' she wanted to lash out at the false Marco. But that was what he did, he gave into his darker intentions. She didn't like the idea of hurting people, not even this false Marco. She would if she had to but…

"Brittney!" Janna tossed the wand to the cheerleader.

Brittney barely caught it, it transformed in her hands, this action took everyone by surprise. As Marco turned to her Brittney let out, "Love-Me Chain!"

Golden chains of light shot out of the wand and wrapped around the prince.

"What are you into?" Janna smirked.

"Why did you do that?" Her heart was pounding, Brittney looked ready to faint.

"Doing something I normally wouldn't."

"Let me go!" Marco bellowed as he struggled against the magic chains.

"Nope!" Star jumped on the seat.

"Its ready." Jackie announced.

"Get going hamsters!" Brittney pulled on the reins when everyone was off and they ran out.

Using the wand Brittney fired at the gates that blocked their way and they ran into the the village.

As they raced down the streets they smashed one of the building with the wheel, as a wall gave way they saw the people inside were trapped in crystals.

Star tried to use her scissors but the crystal must have still been close.

Suddenly the wand ripped from Brittney's hands and flew away.

"I think Marco can use wandless Magic." Sabrina whimpered.

"Fiery Drake!" Marco's voice echoed through the darkness.

"Marco is trying to use Tad Cooper?" Janna snorted, "That lizard with wings?"

The air behind them was filled with fire and suddenly replaced with a massive figure, a dragon seemed to fill the sky,

"….Star get those scissors working." Jackie simply said.

Brittney cracked the reins and the hamster sped on.

"Wait!" Star yelled, "We have to go back! How? I opened the portal for the wheel in the front and we went forwards in time. Don't we have to go backwards to go backwards!"

"I can't go backwards!" Brittney yelled, "Hamsters don't have a reverse switches!"

The streets cracked as Tad Cooper landed before them. The sweet little dragon was now replaced by a thing that gave monsters nightmares. Sabrina was launched forwards and landed on the whimpering rodents.

Star tried her scissors again, a portal formed and she ripped it open right behind the wheel. "Go backwards!"

"Please go backwards." Sabrina whispered to the Hamsters.

They didn't need to be told twice and jumped back pushing the wheel through the portal as the dragon reached for them. The dragon lunged at the snapping its jaws at them, the hamster barely missing it as they fell into the closing portal.

0000

A tear formed and the wheel came crashing down on the Plains of Time.

"Back already?" Father Time smiled to the girls.

0000

A portal formed in the Butterfly household, and the tired girls stepped out.

"Hey!" Mina greeted them.

They stared blankly, Mina had spear sticking through her chest.

"Okay, don't worry I think we've got everything." River ran in with a first aid kit and a saw.

"Don't worry, its all going to be fine." Marco quickly followed behind.

The girls saw him, their Marco rushed at him and gave him a big hug. They held him and silently made the same promise, never to allow him to feel that same soul crushing loneliness that would make Marco into him.

"Hugs are nice and all," Marco muttered, "but we should really help Mina."

"Meh" Mina shrugged, "this isn't even the worse stab wound I've had." Mina moved over and gave him a sideways hug.

* * *

 **Author's Notes: Okay, so this is one of the earliest my own stories for this series. No tweaked version of a story. This story also went a lot longer than I expected. I hope you all had a happy holiday season and this is probably going to be the last update before the new year. Please let me know if you guys have any ideas for any cover art for this fic. So happy new year. So leave a review telling me what you think and a happy new year.**


	11. Chapter 11: St Olga's

**Marco Vs The Forces of Darkness**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Star vs the forces of evil.**

* * *

Chapter 11: St. Olga's

Star was in Marco's room holding out a cake. As she stood before the mirror she called, "Call Pony head."

She hummed to herself as she waited for the call to connect. It was Pony Head's birthday and so she was getting ready to send her a nice cake.

As the call connected Star smiled brightly at her friend, "I just called 'cause have to say, happy birthday on your birthday day, happy birthday on your birthday day!" She held out the cake, "And... there's a special delivery coming right your way, your favorite."

Pony Head look at her, "Ah, oh my goodness! Thank you so much B-fly! I mean, a princess such as myself, could never tolerate such confections." She cleared her throat, "But would you please donate them to the starving bartendens of Galafamor on my behalf?"

Star stared at her, "Did you bump your uni-horn again?"

Pony Head leaned into the mirror, "Girl," she whispered, "you know we can't receive packages here at St. Olga's School for Wayward Princesses."

Thunder cracked both outside Star's home and Pony Head's end.

Star looked around, "How does that keep happening?"

Marco walked in at that moment, it was his room after all, "Oh, you're using my mirror."

"Yeah," Star waved him over, "You want to say happy Birthday to Pony head?"

"I sent her a present to her house."

"Oh!" Pony Head cooed, "You are a dork but you do put a lot of work in your gifts."

Marco paused as he looked at her intently and he started to blink wildly.

Star looked at Pony Head who was blinking almost as much.

Star shrugged it as some sort of strange magical royals thing, "I know, but if you weren't there we could totally party it up! We can go to the Bounce Lounge!"

"Oh, heck yeah girl. That would be the best birthday day ever! Boom." Pony head began to get excited but paused as she heard the door creek open. She gasped, "And that's my third strike. Oh no no, please no no, they're sending me to the solitary conform-ment chamber!"

She blinked wildly as a guard grabbed her pulling her away and the call was cut.

"Huh?" Marco let out.

"Uh, what just happened?" Star questioned the prince. "What with all blinking?"

"Oh, that a code me, Pony Head, and Tom made up when we were small. We had to go to a lot of events and we really couldn't talk in front of our parents so we figured out a code of blinking to talk in front of them."

"What was she saying?"

"Kinda hard to make it out, she was blinking really fast. She was saying something about…. 'Monitoring all our calls…. I need help…. They are coming to take me away… send help…SOS…. No one comes back the same from the conform-ment chamber… tell my sister I love her, Pranciss not Khrysthalle…. Oh please help me Lanco'." Marco pause, "That might have been blinked out wrong."

"What?!"

"Star, Pony Head was probably over reacting. She always does that, and even if she wasn't she could use a little changing. Maybe she'd at least stop calling me Turd or-" he grit his teeth and let out a sigh, "Princess Marco Turdina."

"Marco!" Star let out, "Pony Head just asked for your help! You can't just leave her there! I know you don't really get along but she's still your friend, I mean she used a code you guys made up. We have to at least check up on her! From what I've heard from her that reform school isn't a good place!"

Marco scratched his head, " Yeah, okay, I've heard lots of rumors about St Ol-"

"Uh, just say St. O's." Star stopped him before they heard more thunder.

"Okay, St. O's is not great but it's a reform school, they're not spas."

"Marco…" Star let out, she could see apathy and anger in Marco's eyes when he talked. Were these the seeds that made Marco into that evil King in the future? She could understand Marco being angry at Pony Head for all her teasing but that didn't justify leaving there when she asked for help. Besides she knew Marco could be better and she promised herself that she would never let Marco become that evil future Marco.

"Marco," Star appealed to his better angels, "Are you sure there is no truth in what Pony Head was saying?"

Marco looked her in the eyes before he looked away, "Maybe, I do hear from time to time that some of the princess that come back from there have nightmares and some act like they've been brainwashed or something."

"Marco…" Star pleaded with him, "Pony Head needs help, don't tell me you're going to leave her hanging."

Marco looked ashamed and sighed, "Okay, I'll help but I'm not sure what I can do."

"Your royalty, can't you just tell them to let her out?"

"Doesn't work that way."

"Okay, then we will just break her out. I've seen every prisoner escape movie made. I also saw a show about breaking out prison, well the first and second season. The first one was the only good season." Star clenched her fist, "with what I know and your magic we should have no problem breaking her out. Oh! Get Mina! She could probably run right through a wall!"

"No!" Marco waved his hand, "We can't let Mina know, or anyone know that I'm there."

"Why?"

"St. O's is a boarding school for princess! As in royalty, it has a charter and is protected by all these charters and stuff made with countless kingdoms. If we break in and get caught it might be seen as Mewni breaking any number of treaties. And if we tell Mina she'd be honored bound to tell my mom."

"I thought she was your knight."

"Well, she is but my mom still out ranks me so she'd have to follow any orders set by mom, like telling her if I'm doing anything that could start a war."

"Okay, I guess that makes sense." Star shrugged taking out her scissors, "That's fine I guess, I'll just use the dimensional scissors to tear into Pony Head's room and take her out."

0000

A rift formed and the pair stepped out, and they quickly noticed that they weren't in any room but out of the school.

"What?" Star looked at the scissors, "Huh. I'm usually pretty accurate with these things."

"Ah!" Marco grabbed Star and pulled her behind a pile of rocks just avoiding a speeding carriage.

As they looked behind their hiding space they looked at several princess disembarked from the carriage and had several robotic guards around them.

A short wrinkly one eyed man looked over his clip board, "Ah yes, the newbies have arrived. Welcome to St. Olga's School for Wayward Princesses." Thunder cracked, "We really need to fix that."

Marco scratched his chin."New arrivals? If we can just blend in somehow, we can sneak in unnoticed. All we need is a-"

"Oh! Your spell, that one you used to change your clothes. Use it!"

Marco smiled holding out his wand, "Radiant Shadow Transform!"

In a flash of light Star's clothes changed, she was now wearing a black top with a blue skirt. Her horn headband was now more gnarly looking and s steely grey. Her boot were black and ragged looking, and the final touch was the eye patch over her eye.

Marco pointed the wand at himself, "Radiant Shadow Transform!"

In a flash of light his clothes changed, to his shock he was now wearing a pink girly gown and his hair was now restyled into a long high ponytail.

"What? I wanted to be disguised as one of the guards! Why are you doing this wand? Why are you turning against me?" Marco's eye began to twitch, "I can't do this, I can't do this, I can't do this!"

Marco started to try and tear off the clothes.

"No!" Star tried to stop him, "This is even better! We can get-"

"Whose there?" One of the robot guards peeked over the rock, "What's going on here?"

Marco and Star paused in the middle of it. Star gulped, "This isn't what it looks like."

Star was practically on Marco as he desperately tried to remove his dress.

"Okay," The Robotic guard said not sure what to make of it, "get back in line."

The guard dragged them back to the group. Marco had this strange look on his face, one Star couldn't make out she just knew it wasn't a good one.

Star smiled and tried to joke, "Well, pink is definitely your color?"

The joke felt flat as Marco started to twitch.

The little purple man yelled out in a horse voice, "Single file. Ms. Heinous is eager to start the reformation process."

They lead them along into the school and formed them into a line.

Star was worried as she looked at Marco, none of the princess looked happy to be there, but Marco looked miserable and ready to fall to bits.

The little man played a video and the voice over began, "Don't allow your noble lineage to be thrown away! Here the tried and trusted St. Olga's …"

"St. Olga's…" a whisper let out.

"we have a plethora of foolproof security measures! No dimensional scissors, no magic, no boys!"

"School…" The whispering voice spoke.

"And, etiquette are the main focus for-"

"For…"

"Your troubled wayward princess."

"Wayward princess…"

"We turn undisciplined behavior into perfection."

"Perfection…"

The little man and the guards were looking around confused, "Where is that whisper coming from?"

The voice over finished up, "That free thinking one-in-a-million brat will become a one-in-a-million emotionless rubber stamp that your bloodline can count on."

Star found herself shivering as she heard foot steps coming down the hall, and haughty and displeased voice spoke, "Every one of you is here for a reason."

The guards stood up straight and the little man tried his best to look proper.

There was a woman in a long black gothic style dress whose hem fell just above her black heels. The woman's hair was straight and silky and down in a bob. She had a pair of thick black framed glasses, her eyes were a bright sickly yellow and her skin was smooth and white like pearls. The woman towered over them, she was even a bit taller than even Marco's dad.

Star couldn't make out her age, her skin was super smooth but she just gave off the feeling that she was super old. She also gave her the feeling that she should be feared which is why she didn't voice those thoughts.

The woman walked over the line looking over the new princess, "Too bubbly." She used her sharp black nails to pop the bubble of gum one of the princess was blowing. Her stoic expression threatened to turn into a smirk as she saw the gum cover the princess' face.

"As part of a noble lineage, you don't have the luxury of being an individual. So by the time I'm done with you, you'll all be fixed. Every last one of you." She continued walking, "Whether you're from Pixtopia-" She glanced at the pixie who shuddered at the look.

She paused at Marco looking at the now revealed cheek marks, "Or Mewni. And don't even think about escaping."

Her nail tapped on his cheeks marks and they became blue and cracked. Marco shuddered in pain at the touch but his body freezing unable to move. Light shone brightly from the cheek, Marco tried to scream but he found he couldn't open his mouth to do that.

"Miss Heinous," The small man asked, "Mewni? I thought they had a prince."

Heinous pulled away and Marco collapsed to the floor, "Gemini, don't be ridiculous. They always have a princess."

Star helped the twitching Marco on his feet. The other Princesses look aghast at the sorry state Marco was in.

"Now you've made me lose my train of thought," Heinous shook her head.

One of the princess took out a pair of dimensional scissors ready to bolt but Heinous took them away.

"These are useless. We have a Tramorfidian crystal in Tower 3. No rift can sustain itself within our walls, so you might as well cough up the scissors you smuggled in."

Many princess began to drop their scissors.

"It's hopeless." Star mumbled ready to toss out her scissors.

Marco put his hand on hers, "No, we will need that to escape."

"Are you okay?"

"No, but that doesn't matter." Marco let out, if anything he was more eager to leave. "We can disable to crystal and get out of here."

Star smiled a little finding a bit of renewed hope. "Let's get you out of here."

"Not without Pony Head, she wasn't lying this place is horrible. I don't know what she did but it was horrible, I felt empty, cold, like I was being crushed from the inside." He shuddered, "I might not be besties with Pony Head but she doesn't deserve that. We're going to break in and get her out too."

That the Marco she loved seeing the one she knew one make a good King, the one that always fought on. The kind of person who cared about other even when he wasn't doing great himself.

Heinous told the group, "That concludes your orientation. I'm confident that you will all become perfect princesses. One way, or another." With that she walked away.

Gemini coughed, "Now to get everyone checked in so we can start sucking the individuality out of you."

Marco made his voice go high-pitched, "I hear the first one checked in gets her own room."

The other princesses cheered and started running.

Gemini yelled, "Respect the queue, respect the queue!"

While they ran after the princesses Marco and Star snuck away.

"Good Job, Marco!" Star smiled as they made their way down the halls, "How did you know that would work?"

Marco huffed pulling up his skirt to walk faster, "Star, I've been around princesses almost all my life. Pony Head, Spider Bite, Jaggy…" Marco sighed, "I've just never seemed to get along with them. Everyone was expecting a princess when I was born and then ….Other princess just started teasing me about it. And then Pony Head and I had a falling out and she started to get everyone to call me Princess Marco and everything just got worse-" He paused as he felt Star's hand on his shoulder.

"It's Okay, I know she doesn't say it but Pony Head is trying to be better. I think she misses being friends with you." Star pulled out her phone and pulled up the picture of them as babies cuddle together.

Marco cracked a small smile, "Let's get going. I want to get out of this dress."

As they continued down the halls.

The doors were all barred up but Star still peeked in, "You know, this place has some seriously luxurious digs. Come, on! Look at the intricate floral ornamentation on that armoire-" Star gasped. "the rich mahogany of the canopy bed. And there's enough velvet on that bedspread for me to swim in!"

"This place might be a nightmare but they're still princesses, and they're parents are paying for this place so they're going to get a certain level of treatment."

Star peeked into another room to find Pony Head staring out the window. "Found her, now blow open the door."

Marco shook his head, "We have to do this quietly, or we'll have those guards here in a second."

"Right," Star pulled out a bobby pin from her hair and started to use it to pick the lock.

"Those movies taught you how to do that?"

"No, Janna did."

As the door was unlocked and quickly rushed in, Marco making sure to close the door behind them.

Star started to sing, "I am here 'cause I have to say, happy birthday on your birthday day!~"

"Do you want to get us caught?!"

"Sorry. Hey, Pony Head!"

Pony Head did not respond.

Star tried again, "Hey, it's us. Here to break you out so we can party!"

Pony Head finally turned around to looked at them and started to speak with a posh accent, "My deepest apologies but I must abstain, as partying is for the unrefined."

"What?" Star looked on confused,

"I got this," Marco step forwards, "come on Pony Head, It's me Marco." He cringed, "Look I'm in a dress, got anything to say about it?"

Pony Head blinked, "It's lovely, pink suits you."

"….Okay, we've lost her."

Star grabbed the floating head, "Oh Pony Head what have they done to you." She gave her a hug.

"I kinda like her better this way." Marco smirked.

"Marco!" Star scolded him. "Pony Head, snap out of it!"

Marco sighed, "Don't worry, we will get her out of here. We just have to disable the crystal."

"Would you care for some crumpets?" Pony Head offered.

Star looked around and started to gather up items.

Marco looked on confused, "What are you doing?"

"Don't worry, I saw this in a prison movie, "Escape from Jail Mountain". Trust me. This will save our hides, just like it saved Hank Innocent."

As Marco opened the door he looked around, "It's clear."

They started to carefully creep out of the room.

"Ooh, escaping is inappropriate. Guards!" Pony Head yelled out.

"Shh!" Star tried to quiet her down.

"Guards, guards! Guards! Yoo hoo, guards, guards?"

"Hey, Stop!" One of the robotic guards turn the corner yelling at them.

Star and Marco rushed into the nearest room, they found several princesses at the tables all having tea.

"Keep your pinkies at 90 degrees, more tea please. Keep your pinkies at 90-" The princesses all said at once.

"Blast them?" Star suggested as she tried to keep Pony Head from calling out.

"No, that will only it worse, more guards will come and they might realize I'm behind this."

Marco paused for a moment, "I know some of these princesses."

"This weird." Star admitted, none of them seemed to have reacted to them. "Its like they're robots."

Pony Head joined in, "Keep your pinkies-"

"You don't have pinkies!" Star told her.

"I never imagined it was this bad." Marco looked on aghast, "They said strip you of your individuality but they're doing so literally. They're taking everything from them!"

Marco got up from where he was hiding, "Stand up for yourselves! You are princesses! You are royalty!"

The Princess stopped and turned to him pausing from they're chanting.

"You are your people's hopes and dreams! They look to you to lead them through good times and the worse! They don't need mindless! Yes, you are different! You are people not cookies made with the same cutter! You are not your parents! You are not perfect! You are going to make mistakes! You are going to make errors! You are learning! But you learn from them, you grow, and you try and be better! Who are they to tell you that you need fixing?"

Star was shocked, she couldn't remember the last time he'd seen Marco yell like that. His usually introverted nature became passionate and outspoken.

"You are just trying to be yourselves. You are trying to figure out who that is. You are just doing your best with all the responsibilities that come with royalty." He didn't yell this time, he only spoke yet the hall had become so quiet that everyone could hear him. "You don't have to be treated like this, your lives don't have to become prisons for you. You don't have to take this and do nothing! It's not criminal to be individual. It's not criminal to be individual. It's not criminal to be individual!"

It started like a snow ball, "It's not criminal to be individual."

The princess began to chant with Marco, "It's not criminal to be individual." Until like a crack of thunder they all called out at once, "It's not criminal to be individual!"

The guards who were stunned by Marco's speech were now outright startled by the suddenly rioting Princess, "It's not criminal to be individual!" They rushed the guards and started to fight back.

Marco's words had set off a spark making them realize they didn't need to sit back and take it.

"Marco!" Star yelled, "This is our chance, we have to go!"

Marco was only staring forwards almost not moving,"Marco!"

Star grabbed his hand and saw how badly it was shaking, "Marco please!"

Marco twitched and turned to Star.

Star gave him a brave smile and pulled him along. Soon they found an exit, well, a laundry shoot.

"I saw this in a movie!" Star opened it up. "We slide out and escape through the Laundry room."

Marco shaking his head pulled open the chute, "Take Pony Head and go! I'll see you at the bottom."

Star held the dazed magical being and jumped through the chute. Marco climbed in but found he wasn't moving.

He struggled, "Geh, my poofy dress won't fit!"

"Marcoooo!" Star yelled out as she continued to slid, she just looked up in time to see the Guards pulling Marco away.

0000

At the bottom of the chute they landed on some dirty laundry. "Marco!"

Star yelled as panic set in. She grabbed Pony Head. "You gotta help me save him! I can't do this alone!"

Pony Head looked deeply into the girl's eyes, "Brrrr! A princess who misbehaves will be saved, in the solitary conform-ment chamber!"

"Why can't you remember who you are?"

0000

The guards were strapping Marco into a chair.

Heinous loomed over Marco, her hand grazing his cheek marks. Marco flinched at the contact as it felt like needles digging into his flesh.

"Welcome to my parlor." Heinous told him, "I must commend you, there aren't many girls these days who are so unruly that they have to be invited her." She walked around him making sure he was properly secured. "You'll have to forgive me for the mess. Pony Head's tend to let out a lot of those sparkles when they scream."

Marco noticed sparkles scattered around, the bright color starting to blend into the colorless floor.

"Pony head."

One of the robot put the wand they took off Marco and put on a nearby table before leaving.

Heinous turned to wand, "The wand," she reached for the wand but before touching it she pulled back.

"Worry not, when we're done you will be worthy of it."

Heinous pulled a lever and a princess like hat was placed on his head. A projector began to play, "The proper hat for the event, lest you be in malcontent."

Heinous walked away and went to the room next door. She watched the video play before Marco for a few moments. She watched him struggle against the straps.

Heinous tapped on the glass that kept them apart.

0000

Star laid on the cold laundry room floor, "So this is how it ends: on a cold checkered floor, by a pile of soiled linens, wearing an eyepatch."

She noticed a poster hanging on the walls, "Embrace a princess mentality, wash away your individuality!? Embrace _this_!"

Star grabbed a broom and started to smack the poster with it. Then she gave up and started crying.

"Heh heh heh, heh heh heh ha ha! Oh, _yeah_! That feels so good! Waoo! Ahhahaha." Pony head spoke up, the white coloring fading as she floated to the poster raking it with her horn.

She started laughing her coloring and magic coming right back.

"Pony Head? Your back!" Star rushed her and gave her a hug.

"Oh, you know it! Now let's go destroy something else! I don't even care what it is."

Then a scream tore through the building, it sent chills down Star's spine."

"Whoa, hold up. I'd recognize that girly scream anywhere. That's Marco!"

"Yep, Heinous got him." Star cringed.

"Well, what are we waiting for? If they are doing what they did to me-He can't take it! We have to get him."

"Open that vent!" Star pointed to a vent she found.

Pony head spin her horn like a drill and quickly got it open.

"Keep screaming', Marco!" Star yelled out as they crawled through the vent. "I now know a TV dinner feels like!"

0000

Marco in a girly voice began to say, "Proper throne posture." He flinched in disgust.

Heinous smiled, "Yes, we are extinguishing that rebellious spirit."

"Ohhhoahaa! Make it stop! Ahhhhahahaha!"

Pony Head blasted their way through the vent.

Star yelled out, I'm bustin' our way out of here, Marco, you cool with that?!"

"Time to destroy some stuff!" Pony Head turned her horn to the glass, a blast fired out shattering it and tossing Heinous back and knocking her out.

"Marco!" Star yelled out, "Are you okay?"

Marco was twitching a storm, Pony Head Mused, "Yeah, I was afraid of this."

Star had already taken another bobby pin from her hair and used it to free Marco. "Let's get going!"

Star helped Marco up and spotting the wand grabbed it. They rushed out as quickly as they could.

Gemini walked in, "Lady, would you care for your tea-?" he paused seeing the mess, "Your cheeks!"

Heinous was coming too and hearing that snapped her out of her daze. "No!" She looked into one of the glass shards to see strange shapes appearing on her cheeks. She rushed to the chair and put the hat on. "A princess always maintains her poise."

0000

As they ran out Marco noted, "Pony Head, your back to normal?"

"You're not getting rid of me that easy." Pony Head smiled,

"I'm glad," Marco managed a smile, "I was starting to be afraid I'd have to deal with Azniss as Queen."

Pony Head snorted, "You wish you could get off that easy. Glad to see you didn't crack, Turd."

"That's the Pony Head I know and Tolerate."

As the entered the halls all the princess were chanting and banging against the bars.

Pony Head marveled, "Man, I can't believe it, but you sure worked some turd magic on these girls! They are in it!"

"Yeah, you really started something." Star told him.

"Yeah…"Marco mused, "They really listened to me. My work here is not done."

Star handed him back the wand and he stood forwards, "My fellow wayward sisters! I'll show you the way! They want you to be a rubber-stamp-princess, I say we stamp on them!"

Marco raised his wand and it glowed brightly, all the doors and windows in the school opened up and all the imprisoned princess ran out.

They ran out into the yard, "There's the tower."

The guards came rushing out trying to stop the riot but the princess started to fight back using any powers and abilities they had, including just smacking them down.

"Shimmering Destructo Canon!" His wand popped a bazooka out, with a pull of the trigger he fired on the tower.

In a glorious blast the crystal that held them back was taken care off.

Star didn't hesitate and opened up a portal. "Let's go!"

Pony Head smiled at Star, "No, I'm staying here. I have to stay here and make sure that what happened to me doesn't happen to anyone else."

"But your birthday," Star tried to get her to come along.

"You gave me the best gift ever. And it's called "Gettin' Me My Groove Back"! Look at me! It's back, babe!"

Pony Head moved over and nuzzled Marco, who hugged her, "Thanks, Marco." Pony head whispered, "I know it wasn't easy for you. Just hang in there."

Marco just gave her a squeeze.

Star smiled, she couldn't hear what they were saying, but was happy they might not have been besties but they grew up together and could tell they were still friends.

Marco quickly stepped into the portal.

Star was going to follow him when Pony Head stopped her, "Keep an eye on him, he needs someone to be there."

0000

Star stepped back into Marco's room happy that Pony Head was safe.

"Phew! That was-" Star paused, she saw Marco standing there still in the princess outfit as he looked in a mirror.

"Marco?"

Star looked at him his eyes filled with tears and he was gently shaking. Seeing himself in the dress made him realize something.

"Marco, what's wrong?"

"T-they listened to me." Marco's voice was breaking.

"Isn't that good? You're going to be a good leader. A natural." Star tried to smile, but she sensed this was big and bad.

"Yeah, and the only time people have ever actually listened to me was because they thought I was a girl." Marco sobbed, "It's just like what everone has been saying. It would have been better if I was just a girl. They were right….I'm just a mistake."

Something struck Star, that speech Marco gave… that was what he had wanted to hear. That was what Marco had hoped for years for someone to tell him. It must have been rough for Marco to pretend to be something everyone told him to be but he never wanted to be, and then finding out that was the only way to be listened to. It must have shattered the dreams he had and all at once.

Star wrapped her arms around Marco and spoke gently, "Marco, they listened to you because you care and you have good ideas. You'll see, you're going to be great. No, you are great it's everyone else who doesn't see it."

Star felt him put his hand on her almost pleading with her not to let him go.

Star knew it was a small comfort but it was the best she could do. She held her friend as he cried quietly, Star wondered if Marco had ever let himself cry about this before.

She didn't think he had. She just stayed quiet and held him.

0000

Heinous looked over a potion that glowed green after she placed a bobby pin she found in it. As she looked over a book a wide grin spread across her lips, "Earth? If that's where you went, well, I know where I have to go to find you."

0000

Elsewhere Hekapoo growled annoyed, "I almost had it! I had almost tracked them. They must hav gotten close to a Tramorfidian crystal." She took a breath, "Okay, don't need to worry. I just need them to screw up once more. I'll find them. I'll make them pay."

Flames erupted around her as she began to try and track her scissors again.

* * *

 **Author's Notes: Yeah, that just happened. I took some liberties with this chapter, let me know if you guys think it worked out. I'm not sure it did. What I was going for here was Marco being teased and rejected by his people because he was a boy and then getting a chance to lead people but remembering they saw him as a girl was a blow. He started to feel proud and then got knocked down and hard. Did that come across well? Leave a review telling me what you think.**

 **And yes, many of you have been asking and… next chapter Hekapoo shows up to claim her scissors.**


	12. Chapter 12: Cheer Up & Run With Scissors

**Marco Vs The Forces of Darkness**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Star vs the forces of evil.**

* * *

Chapter 12: Cheer up and Run With Scissors

Marco had been a little off for the last few days. It wasn't anything huge but those around him started to notice. Star knew why, the whole thing at St. O's had shaken him. It was a blow to his ego. He always wanted to be a good leader and inspire people but to find the first time people saw him as one was when they thought he was another gender. The whole gender thing being a big deal because of how his people treated him.

Star couldn't really wrap her mind around it, no one ever treated her different for such superficial reasons. Also Star always tried to treat people nicely. She just didn't have the mind set for it.

Star understood that Marco didn't want to talk about, she didn't want to force him so she decided that she'd just try to be there for him.

That and try and make him happy to take his mind off it.

A situation popped up, Ludo and his monsters attacked at the end of the school day. It seemed perfect, Ludo wasn't a threat so it seemed like it would be a fun time beating him and his monsters.

Ludo in all fairness had come up with something of a plan. He and his goons had gathered all the cash they could and bought these small bottles. Ludo would toss them out and they broke out something would happen. Since each effect was different they really couldn't do much against them. They also planned for Mina having brought this huge three-eyed fire cat to fight her.

"Ya!" Mina let out as she grabbed the cat by its paw and hurled it away.

As she took a breath the fire-y feline jumped back and bounced on her.

Star was having fun fighting off the monster and dodging the attacks. Ludo tossed a vial and quickly Star grabbed one of the monsters to use as a shield. The monster yelped as the glass broke and spark of electricity struck him.

The other girls watched on, they weren't fighters so they couldn't really help here but they didn't feel in danger. The monsters were less eager to try and take them hostage.

One of the monsters spotted them and Janna waved at them, "Hey."

The monster quickly retreated.

Yeah, Janna scared them.

They didn't ever ask what she had done to make them fear her more than an ultra powerful knight or magical prince.

"The wand will be mine!" Ludo fumbled for more bottles and tossed them at Marco.

Marco easily dodged them and readied his wand.

Marco focused on the fight, he barely realized more of the school had gathered to watch the magical fight. Yeah, even the normal students had gotten used to this and thought little of Ludo as a threat.

Marco charged at Ludo, a monster was about to tackle him but Star Quickly jumped and tackle him away.

"Marco Go!" Star cheered him on.

Marco readied his wand as he planned out a spell to take the monster out.

Mina raised the cat over her head and hurled it at another group of monsters. Ludo in a panic fumbled for another vial.

Marco got close to Ludo, Ludo hurled another bottle and Marco fired his wand.

"Crystal Blast!"

Shards of crystal struck the small monster hurling him backwards. Marco was hoping to avoid the last attack but he was to close to dodge it. He thought he'd have more time seeing how difficult it was for Ludo just pulling one out.

As Marco tumbled back he felt magic wrapped around him.

Ludo seeing he had already used up all of his potion bottles called it quit.

"Everyone fall back!" He quickly opened up a portal and his monsters poured into it. As Ludo was preparing to leave he turned back once more as he saw the potion take affect around Marco.

Ludo chuckled, "Princess Marco."

"P-princess?" Marco shuddered at the word, as he looked down he realized a pretty dress and a crown materialized around him.

The potion must have contained a costume spell, it was just like Ludo not to pay attention to what potions he got.

Ludo had already escaped into the portal.

"Heh, he does look like a princess." One the students noticed.

"Oh, he's so pretty he could be a princess."

"He actually does look good in that dress."

They made all these jokes, none meant anything by it just a little harmless teasing. But that's not how Marco took, how often had he heard those words when they weren't so harmless.

"Marco!" Star reached for Marco, she could already see him starting to shake his eyes loosing their luster. She could practically see him falling apart.

As Star got closer she could see him reach for his wand and his lips moving but he seemed so out of it, she couldn't even make out the words. Space around them warped and they were gone. The dress was left behind.

"Oh no." Mina mumbled as everyone else was left aghast.

0000

Star Tumbled to the floor of her home's hall way. "We're home? Wow, that's a useful spell."

As she looked up see the Marco enter his room and the door closing behind him.

Star jumped and reached for the door but found an invisible barrier blocking her way. "Is that a new pell Marco? That's actually pretty cool. Marco! Marco! Answer me! Are you okay? I know that couldn't be nice for you but they didn't know. Marco please say something."

"Marco come on! Say something!" Star started to bang on the door but found her fist bounce back. "Huh?"

Before she could further investigate a tear formed behind her and Mina walked out pocketing her scissors. "You're here. Good. Where's the prince?"

Star pointed to his door, Mina replied "Good, I got it in one guess."

The girls quickly followed behind her through the portal.

"Where's Marco?" Brittney demanded.

"He looked upset." Jackie said worried, she remembered that break down he had at the Plains of Time and hoped it would never happen again.

"Yeah, why did Marco just leave like that?" Sabrina questioned.

Star sighed, she didn't want to tell them something so personal about Marco but she was out of her depth and she needed help to help Marco. So with some help of Jackie they told the others about Marco's history.

"… Oh" Brittney could only say.

"That's messed up, no wonder he's got so many quirks and hang ups." Janna added. "He's a walking text book case of confidence issues and neurosis."

Mina was tapping the door, "Huh, force shield. Didn't think Glossaryck had taught him this yet. Its pretty good. Better give it some gusto."

Mina took a step back and pulled back her arm.

"I think we should step back." Janna suggested.

Suddenly her fist clashed at the shield with enough force that the air pushed back and it pushed the girls causing Sabrina to tumble to the floor. The shield on the door cracked apart.

Mina shook her fist as the door opened up.

"Hey, yeah, can you not do that?" Glossaryck floated forwards "I was just trying to take my nap and suddenly space gets warped in a way that would make Hekapoo proud."

"Pudding thief!" Star pointed a finger at the blue man, "Where's Marco?"

"Yeah, I was about to get to that. He's curled up under the blankets."

"We need to talk to him," Sabrina in a rare moment of bravery, "we want to help him."

Glossaryck rolled his eyes, "Look, this isn't something you can help him. He needs time to properly deal with his 'issues'. Look I'll try to talk to him, just stay here and be quiet."

The door slammed before them.

"That can only make things worse." Brittney pointed out to the general agreement of the others.

Then quickly the door flung open and the spell book flew out, it spun in the air before it opened revealing Glossaryck. The door quickly shutting closing.

"He says he wants to be alone, well, I'm off to lunch." With no more interest in the situation he floated over to the kitchen.

Mina examined the door again, "Wow, another shield. Up quickly and a lot stronger."

"Can you break it again?" Star questioned.

"Oh, yeah, just a little more elbow grease. One question: How important is it that this house doesn't fall down?"

"Pretty important." Star shot back.

"Well, better not punch it then."

"Can't you use your own magic to undo it or something?" Jackie suggested.

"Yeah, no, doesn't work like that. My magic tends to focus on fighting. The only other way to get through barrier is open the door on the other side,"

The door opened up and barrier vanished.

"Hey." Janna said smiling.

"How?" Brittney asked.

Janna pointed at the window in the hall, "I climbed out and onto the roof, climbed through into Marco's window. The lock on his window is broken, someone should really fix it."

Star quickly rushed in with the other following, they found Marco deep in his blankets.

"Marco" Star walked towards him, "Please talk to us, we can help, we can try-"

"Mina, I order you to escort them out of my room."

Mina flinched at the words, not once since she met Marco had he given her an order. The closes things had been request like helping him learn to fight better or something simple like not referring to him as prince, which she admitted she failed every once in a while.

"As you wish." Mina sighed waving the girls out.

"If you think-" Brittney began as suddenly and easily Mina pushed her out the door.

Suddenly the girls all found themselves pushed out.

"Wait!" Star yelled she pulled out her scissors, "Here." Star placed them on his dresser, "If you don't want to talk to us thats fine. I just don't want you to lock yourself alone. So here's my scissors, go talk to your parents or go see Tom, I don't know, go to the beach or get your self a you want to go away then you can, just promise me that you'll bring them back. That way I know you'll talk to me when you feel better."

There was a moment of silence, "I promise I'll bring them back."

Star smiled, he wouldn't lock himself away forever. Thats all she needed right now, a promise.

They left the room and left Marco alone.

Marco didn't moved right away but he pulled himself out of bed after a few moments.

Marco ran his hands through his hair. "What's wrong with me? They didn't know," Marco shook his head. "They couldn't know about _that_. And Star and the other were trying to help why did I kick them out?"

He didn't want to be like this, he didn't want to freak out because of a stupid nick name. He was just so frustrated. He felt like he was breaking every second at St O's. It wasn't all that much better on Mewni, servants whispering behind his back. On Earth it had been a bit different, no one looked at him like he was broken or wrong and he made friends.

That why it hurt so much, when he heard them call him Princess he felt like this haven was being shattered and he just wanted to run and hide.

He looked at the scissors and picked them up, and tore through space. He slipped off his shoes and put his feet through.

It was the beach, he felt the cool water splash his toes.

It brought him a good memory, he remembered his parents taking him to the beach, to a cottage they owned, his mom taught him how to swim. The first thing he did every trip there was to splash his toes there, it was peaceful and was relaxing just to have time with his parents.

That gave him an idea, he opened another portal one to the forest of Mewni. The breeze moved in, it carried the fresh pine air, it reminded him about time playing with the dire wolves.

He needed more good memories.

Marco looked at the scissors, he'd always been warned about overusing the scissors but Star had been using the scissors all the time it couldn't hurt. Maybe he had been overreacting.

He opened another portal.

0000

A few moment later he was eating a burger and taking a whiff of fresh baked bread from his favorite bakery on Mewni.

He was about to toss his burger wrapper but finding his waste bin too far away just opened up another portal to toss it out.

"Huh?" Marco paused as the portal turned red.

A white hand stuck out grabbing him.

"What?"

Marco was pulled in and fumbled onto a barren land.

"Well, I certainly didn't expect you. I'm actually almost impressed."

Marco turned around to find a red haired demon standing on the portal. "Hekapoo."

She jumped off and looked him in the eyes, "You gave me a good run for my money. I'd sense a random portal here and there, but I couldn't really pin you. Then I sensed a spacial anomaly and guess what, I sensed several portal forming." She held up the scissors, "And I found my stolen scissors."

"Your scissors?"

"Those are Star's."

"I think not," she moved him over to the lit flame above her hand, suddenly runes formed on them, "See they have my name on them," She clicked her tongue, "at first I thought I lost them at the Bounce Longe but no you snuck into the woman's room and stole them!"

Marco realized, "Axolotl dammit Pony Head! Lady Hekapoo I'm so sorry-"

"No, but you will be. I'm telling your mom, that the little prince is a thief and kinda a pervert."

"The bathroom thing? No you don't understand!"

"Don't really care. Get yourself back to Earth and wait for a call from your mom. I really don't think she's going to leave you on Earth much longer."

Marco cringed at the thought, he was going to leave all his friends. As he saw Hekapoo fiddle with the scissors Marco remembered the promise he made.

"I didn't steal those scissors, but I did borrow them. I'm not going back without them. I promised I'd return them."

"Mine, so no."

"Replace them! I'll replace them."

Hekapoo snorted, "Yeah that's a big no. I do make them for the royal family but you're too young to boss me around. When you're King you can commission me and I'll gladly make them. Otherwise the only other way to get a pair is to earn them."

"Then I'll earn them."

"Ha! Don't make me laugh, the safety prince taking my trail and passing? You can barely cast spell and you don't even have your wand."

Marco patted his pockets, realizing he left it on his bed.

"All your fighting training was done by rock for brains."

"Hey don't talk about Rhombulus like that!"

"I'll talk about him however I want. Now get out of here."

Marco held out his chest, "By the Royal Crown of Mewni, I Prince Marco Ubaldo Diaz, Order you Hekapoo Forger of Dimensional Scissors to return those scissors to me."

Hekapoo looked at him and laughed, "Oh that's rich! Your mom is my boss not you. Until you take over for her I don't have to follow any order. Nice try, little princess."

"What?" Marco twitched, he'd had a rough day and he was in no mood to hear that from anyone much less someone who worked for his family and was being so difficult about this.

"Go home Princess."

Marco snapped and reached for the scissors but Hekapoo stepped back dodging him. Each attempt Hekapoo easily avoided.

"Done?" Hekapoo smirked, "Ready to leave or should I call your mommy right now?"

"I'm not leaving without scissors," Marco huffed, "if the only way is for me to earn them, then I will."

"Oh! Is that what you want to try?" Hekapoo smirked and gestured a knob on her head and her flame grew smaller. "Okay, let's do it. If you want to get a pair all you have to do is blow out my flame."

Marco rushed towards her but Hekapoo just ran, ran just faster then him staying just out of reach. "Ready to give up? No?" Hekapoo started to run faster and before he could eve stop she was beyond the horizon.

Suddenly a hot slap struck his head, "On your right." Hekapoo passed him.

"What?"

"On your right." She came around again, slapping him.

"Ow!"

"One more!"

Suddenly Marco turned around at the incoming Hekapoo, as she saw this she ran away just slow enough for him to follow.

"You think that is good enough?"

Marco suddenly caught up to her and jumped to tackle her.

"Nope!" She side stepped him and he tumbled down the cliff that was right behind her.

Hekapoo looked over the cliff to check on him when he popped up. He had caught himself on a branch and jumped up blowing out her flame. To Marco's surprise Hekapoo vanished.

Marco pulled himself up, "A clone."

Laughing was heard and Marco followed the noise, "Not bad but not good enough."

Marco found an army of Hekapoo, one opened up several portal and they all rushed into them.

Hekapoo still rang out, "You're not good enough, little boy or little princess. This could take years, decades, life times. Give up now and go."

Another portal formed, one leading back to Earth, opened up.

"No," Marco said defiantly, "I'm not leaving until I prove you wrong and get those scissors."

0000

Star and the other were talking, trying to pull Marco out this funk. For a start order a pizza, at least so they could eat while they thought it up.

Star went up and knocked on Marco's door. "Hey Marco! I know you want to be alone, but we're ordering a pizza do you want in on this? Mina wants a lot of anchovies on it, where do you sit on that?" Star knocked again, "Marco?"

Not getting a reply Star pushed the door open, "Marc- MARCO!"

The girls hearing the scream rushed towards Marco's room, "Did he not want anchovies?" Mina said before pausing.

The girls were greeted by the room filled with portals.

Fear crept into Mina's face, "….he went portal crazy…." then her eyes fell on a red a portal, "Oh no…. that's one of Hekapoo's portal…."

"Where's Marco? Sabrina questioned.

"He's probably dead."

"What?!" The girls yelled.

"Hekapoo…. I think i've heard that name before." Jackie tried to keep calm and make sense of it. "Why would that mean Marco's dead?"

Mina sighed, "Hekapoo is one of the members of the high commission she works with Marco's mom."

"And why would that mean Marco's dead?" Janna asked.

"Creating this many portals in one location would be a violation of her rules, she takes them very seriously."

"Uh, why is it against the rules?" Star asked, remembering she'd made many portal before, not this many but-

"Not sure, something about weakening space in an area and causing ruptures or something like that."

"But if she works with the Queen, she'd know Marco, right?" Brittney spoke trying not to panic. "She'd go easy on him for making a lot of portals, I mean no one got hurt and it's a first offense."

"Maybe," Mina tapped her chin, "I mean, she'd know. She'd make those scissors for you right?" Mina turned to Star.

"Oh, no, I got them from Pony Head." Star told her. "Maybe we should call her. Hey Mirror call Pony Head."

The mirror on the wall came to life, "Calling pony Head."

A moment later the mirror flashed Pony head's face, "Hey gurl, just working out. Give me a second, hm, yeah feeling the burn."

Janna saw that she was just hovering over a thread mill, "How?"

"Hey Pony Head-"

"Is that a red portal!?" Pony Head panicked seeing the portal.

"Yeah, Marco was making portal using the scissors you gave me and now he's missing and this portal-"

"Oh… Marco's probably dead…oh… I feel bad about this… that's a surprise."

"Where did you get the scissors?" Mina asked.

"Uh, well, I might have found them in the Bathroom of the Bounce Longe and Hekapoo might have been in there at the time."

Mina's eyes twitched, "You stole Scissors! That is a capital offense! Hekapoo would kill anyone caught with stolen scissors especially if they were hers! Even if it was the prince! The queen would be in trouble if Hekapoo found she stole her scissors."

"Is Hekapoo really that bad?"Janna asked.

"Hm," Mina pondered how to answer the question, "Besides, Lekmet she's probably the most reasonable commission member outside the queen. But she also has the biggest temper, she's strong and fast. She's probably one of the strongest beings in the universe. I'd be hard pressed to last five minutes in a fight with her. Our only hope now is Marco found her in a good mood and he could talk her down."

0000

Mina readied her sword, her job was to protect the prince. He was sweet boy, but unlike some royals who she'd seen to do nothing Marco wanted to help. He'd been picked on and understood what it was to be the underdog. It made him empathetic towards those who were suffering.

She liked that about him, all the power he had and he only sought to help, there were plenty who'd be corrupt with power but not him.

He was noble and wanted to help and make things better. And he had the potential for great power and that meant he might actually manage to do something.

If she failed in her duty to protect him … then she'd have to do everything she could to avenge him. And if it was against Hekapoo… well, she'd pay for her failures.

She didn't want to have the girls come with her but she didn't have time to talk them out of it.

If there was any hope in saving him she'd have to act quickly.

She used her scissors to open a portal right to Hekapoo's forge.

She readied herself for battle, she couldn't attack first, if Hekapoo found mercy and just took Marco to the Queen and she attacked…. well, getting sacked would be the least of her worries. But if the worst had happened she'd have to be ready to act-

Star kicked down the door and rushed in, "Hekapoo! Where's Marco?"

Star blinked as she saw a familiar looked red head sitting on the couch with a stud of a man in a leather jacket.

"Star! Mina! Janna! Brittney! Jackie! Sabrina!" Before any of them could react the man ran to them and scooped them up in a big bear hug.

"Get off me handsom stranger!" Star pushed them apart.

"Star, it's me Marco."

"…Marco?"

As they looked at him they noticed things, his tale tell mole and the ruby like cheek marks.

But there eyes were drawn to something else.

"Abs." Star blushed, well, they all did they were really impressive abs.

"Ah, Marco… is that… wow." Jackie felt her face go red.

"He gets hotter as he gets older." Brittney whispered.

"Yeah." Janna bit her knuckles, she hated to agree with Brittney but couldn't this time.

"Ah huh ah," Sabrina found it hard to string words at the moment, he hand somehow found itself touching the abs. When she realized she was doing it she couldn't force herself to pull away.

"Marco!" Mina pulled away from staring, "Wow! Look at you! All grown up and hot! Wait, how? We left you for a few minutes."

"Hey Sabrina." Marco said just noting Sabrina touching him. "Wait minutes? I've been here for 16 years."

"Yeah, might have forgot to mention time works differently here." Hekapoo smirked, "Sorry, not sorry."

"You were here for 16 years?" Star snapped out of her trance.

"Yeah," Marco said proudly, "I fought bear sharks, launched myself off a water fall, fought in a war, oh! I got a dragon Cycle, come here Nachos"

Nearby Nachos rolled over to Marco.

"Nice." Mina approved.

"Oh look! It took me years but-" Marco pulled out a pair of sword shaped scissors and his name briefly flashed on them. "I earned them a few days ago. I kinda lost yours, they were Hekapoo's actually and-"

"Oh yeah, forgot about these." Hekapoo pulled out a pair of scissors from a drawer and tossed them to Star.

She caught them, her name flashed decorated with stars and glitter, the hand when together formed a star.

"Yeah, made that for your friend a while ago."

"But-"

"Marco as the next in line to the throne you could have requested a pair from me at 16."

"Then why did you let me continue the trail?"

"I assumed you knew, I mean, even if I did it's not you'd give up the trial until your earned a pair for yourself."

Marco sighed, "yeah, you're right."

"That's great, I have my own pair. Let's go home, then."

"Star, I'm not going back. I like my life here, I like going on adventures every day. I like helping everywhere I go."

"But what about your family, what about your friends, what abou-"

Brittney pushed Star away, "What about me?"

The she slapped Sabrina's hand away, not that she could blame her.

Marco Hekapoo spoke up, "What have we been talking about? I don't mind you spending time here, or come back for a visit but we know your destined for more than a traveling adventurer. You are a great man, and you're going to be a great king."

"H-Poo."

"H-poo?" The girls asked.

"Don't call me that!" Hekapoo shouted.

"Mind taking care of Nachos in the meanwhile?" Marco asked her.

"No problem, I'll take good care of her." Hekapoo petted her head.

Marco leaned down and kissed her snout, "I'm going to miss you Boo-Boo, I'll come back when I can. I promise."

Star opened a portal with her own scissors.

"Well, it's been a hell of a ride, old friend. You gave me a real run for my money."

"Yeah, I know I've given you more than a few rough nights." Hekapoo had a devious smirk. "Though I think we both should keep that to ourselves."

"Yeah," Marco knowingly smiled.

"Wait did-" Mina began but quickly realized they weren't going to answer either way. She sighed and stepped into the portal choosing to ignore that and pretend she didn't hear anything.

They all stepped into the portal Marco pausing and looking back, "See you later, H-Poo."

"What did I just say?"

Marco stepped out and, "What happened to my hot body?"

Mina sighed in relief, "I guess your back on Earth's timeline, good I don't have to explain anything to your mama."

Marco cringed at the loss of his abs, "Heh." Sabrina patted his chest, "its still not bad."

"Thanks Sabrina."

Sabrina couldn't help but blush at the smile Marco gave her.

Marco found his wand on his bed, he smiled it had been so long since he'd seen it.

He picked it up and it glowed and transformed. The wand extended, grew and changed shape, the sword was know a red spear. The gem didn't change shape, nor did it change color, but it also sprouted little wings like Nachos' wings.

"It changed," Marco noticed.

"Because you changed." Hekapoo stepped out of the portal. "You're not the little boy anymore, Princess Marco."

Marco scoffed, "If I can't call you H-Poo you can't call me princess."

The girls looked on amazed, he didn't freak out anymore.

"You're really okay?" Janna asked him.

"Yeah," he smiled, "I know who I am, I can't help what people do or think of me but I don't have to let me affect me."

Mina smiled, 16 years and the boy got the confidence he deserved.

"Well, we were going to order a pizza, let's do that." Sabrina walked out of the room as she realize she was getting a few glares for her earlier actions.

"Anchovies!" Mina bellowed following along.

The other girls walking out with her.

Marco was snapped out of his focus with a hot slap.

"You got the Mark of Hekapoo, son!" Hekapoo laughed, "I'll see you around, Marco."

As she turned to leave she found Marco catching and pulling her around. To her surprise she found his lips pressed against his. She found her arms resting on his neck as he slipped his arms around her hips.

After a moment she pulled away, "It's not that I'm complaining, but I thought we agreed the fun we had on the trial would stay in my dimension."

"Well, one for the road."

"Heh" Hekapoo let out. "One couldn't hurt, bad boy."

Hekapoo just hoped that the trial would become known, much less some of the stuff they got into during the trial. If the Queen found out, well know one is stupid enough to anger the Queen when it comes to her son.

Marco took her hand and gently kissed it, "Until next we meet Lady Hekapoo."

"Until next we meet Prince Marco."

Hekapoo returned to her dimension closing the portal behind her.

Marco held his wand and his scissors and pulled the sleeves on his jacket. He revealed two small round crystals on leather straps. With them he felt like he could take on the world.

* * *

 **Author's Notes: Sorry it's taken me so long to update. Things have been rough in my life and I just haven't been in the mood to sit down and write. But I'm hoping things change soon. Anyway, to cut some of your questions no we won't find out there is a little Seraph running around this universe. This is a whole different timeline and** lets **just say they were concerned** of **more little royals popping up. You can come** with **whatever conclusions you want.**

 **Also check out the new story Frayed Thread written by our former beta Void.**

 **Anyway, leave your reviews telling me what you think.**


	13. Chapter 13: Sleep Spelling

**Marco Vs The Forces of Darkness**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Star vs the forces of evil.**

* * *

Chapter 13: Sleep Spelling

Marco held up his wand,"Levitato!"

Around him every item in his room floated and moved slowly around, all of them moving around careful not to bump each other.

Glossaryck who was always floating smiled, "Very good my prince. You've advanced your control significantly in such a short time. I think we will have to go into the next stage of your magic lessons."

"What? Really?" Marco smiled, gently placing everything back in its proper place.

"Yes," Glossaryck nodded, "you've taken quiet well to the magic I've shown you so far, your own spells are under your firm control and you've even shown to refine them much quicker than expected. Your new mastery confirms it for me, its time to teach you more advance magic."

Marco smiled, he felt pride in himself. While in Hekapoo dimension he lacked his wand and struggled for a long time to manage any magic. He tried every day to master what he could, but with hunting down clones, trying to survive, and training his body, he just didn't have time to do it properly. That and Marco knew he was a kind of student that needed instruction and books with instructions for him to properly grasp things. Learning everything on his own was a real struggle. Then what he did manage took him a lot of effort to properly control and he would lose control more than he wanted to admit.

Now he was back home and he had his wand it was like he'd been training with weights for years and for the first time he finally got a chance to take them off.

He made a note to send a 'thank you' gift to Hekapoo for all the help she gave him. Though he made a point not to mention her to Glossaryck afraid that he'd get her in trouble.

"Yes, we will start the more advance training soon. Maybe during the weekened, I want to plan somethings out. But for now practice your basics and get plenty of rest."

"Right." Marco smiled, before yawning.

"Start by getting a good night's rest."

Glossaryck smiled, Marco was one of his easiest students. Marco was attentive, eager to learn, followed instructions closely but willing to try new things, and most of all put a lot of work into being his best. Marco also had a fair bit of talent. Marco wasn't his best or even a natural but he did have great potential.

Glossaryck would have to admit he had a fair few grand ideas for spells, they would take a lot of work to manifest but if he accomplished it they'd be something.

Marco also didn't need to be tricked or motivated, he's just listen and after some of his former students that was really refreshing.

Not that Queen Angie was a terrible student, she was just a bit distracted finding her love of her life at early age. They often sneak off to have their dates and she'd miss his lessons. She was also a free spirit so disciplined lessons didn't work with her.

But when she did settle down and study she took to it. It surprised how she took to battle magic, when she always said she wanted to do her best to make sure she could protect those she cared about.

In the end it was about motivation, finding what truly motivates his students.

For Marco and his mother Glossaryck could tell their magic was always strongest when it came to listening to their hearts.

He supposed their could be worse things in the world.

0000

In the morning Marco stretched out as he got out of bed. He made his way down stairs for breakfast.

As he walked into the kitchen, he found his host family there.

"Morning."

"Marco," Moon started, "did you have a rough night?"

"….No." Marco was confused, "Why?"

"Well," River began, "you've seem to have redecorated last night."

Marco looked around finding the walls of the dinning room now a pale pink, and the living furniture exchanged with what should be in the kitchen. And a spider web like vines covered the windows.

"Yeah, and there is a bath tub on the ceiling in the living room." Star pointed out.

Marco stuck his head out into the living and indeed the tub seemed to be melted into the ceiling.

"But that wasn't me." Marco told them. "I didn't do anything like that."

"Maybe you had a bad dream and zapped up somethings in you dreams when you grabbed the wand." Star suggested.

Marco shook his head, "I don't sleep with the wand. I lock it up in a safe by my bed. Just to make sure no one tries to steal it while I'm asleep."

Star hummed to herself, "Yeah, that sounds like something you'd do."

"I wonder what caused this then?" Moon said out loud.

0000

"Ghosts." Janna told them at lunch.

For a while now Marco had been having lunch with Star, Jackie, Janna and Sabrina. Brittney would also join them more often then not, she didn't like the idea of loosing ground with Marco.

They were trying to figure out what was wrong with the house.

"You think my house has ghosts?" Star surmised.

"Wait, are ghosts real?" Sabrina questioned.

The group turned to Marco for an answer.

"Yes, ghosts are real. What you don't have them here?"

"Maybe," Jackie said unsure, "I mean, there are lots of people that believe in ghosts but most people don't think they''re real. Then again people said the same thing about magic and you're here."

Marco shrugged, "I don't think it's a ghosts. I've never seen any ghosts in person but I've read about them. There would be a lot more evidence besides a few things moved around. There would be ectoplasm or something. It certainly wouldn't all start up so suddenly one night."

"Hm," Star hummed, "well, now that I think of it for the last few days stuff been moving around. My drawers got a mixed up, dad found the lawn mower in the washing machine, mom found a pillow in the fridge-"

"See!" Janna insisted, "Stuff is happening, that's why I'm going to sleep over tonight and get evidence of ghosts."

0000

"Okay, so what's happening?" Glossaryck asked Marco.

"Uh, not really sure." Marco admitted.

The girls had invited themselves into a slumber party. Brittney started it as she didn't want to leave Janna alone in the same house with Marco. That then just snowballed into a slumber party.

Star didn't mind, she loved the idea of having all her friend there. The older Butterfly's didn't mind either, it was Friday so the Weekend was there and if the girl's parents said it was okay then it would be fine. It was their date night so they'd wouldn't be home until the girls had long since fallen asleep. They might be a little hesitant to leave Star alone with a slumber party but she'd shown a great deal of responsibility since Marco arrived plus most of her friends were rather responsible.

Janna was a little worrisome, she was a good kid but she and Star did get into a load of trouble. Still Marco would be around so he'd be able to curve some of their tendencies.

"Well, Good night. See you tomorrow." Marco waved at them as he headed to his room.

"Wait, you're not staying?" Brittney asked him.

"No, this seems more like a girls night in sort of thing. I don't want to ruin that, plus I have to wake up early tomorrow. Glossaryck promised tomorrow we'd start more advance lesson." Marco couldn't help but sound eager. "We are going to start nice and early tomorrow so I have to go to bed early."

"Well, I'm promising there will be any of Sabrina's brownies left in the morning." Janna chomped on one of brownies the klutz brought over.

"Yeah, it's a girls night. You go to bed, no boys allowed." Glossaryck nuzzled himself between the girls reaching for a brownie.

"Sorry Pudding Thief." Star smirked. "Like you said no boys allowed." She tossed him at Marco.

Marco chuckled, "Good night."

"But brownies…" Glossaryck reached for one as the prince carried him off.

Sabrina picked one and tossed it at him.

"You're my favorite." Glossaryck smiled as he started to eat his treat.

Sabrina smiled contently at herself.

"Who cares what the little blue man has to say?" Brittney huffed.

Star gobbled up her brownie and with a mouthful, "Sabrina these are really good. You have to show me how to make these."

"Please." Janna added, "I've had her attempt at brownies. My stomach still hurts."

"They weren't that bad." Star wagged a half eaten brownie at her.

"Yeah, they were." Jackie said in a sorry tone.

"Let's go into what we are going to do tonight." Star changed topics.

"We're going to find that ghost!" Janna told her.

"Well, sure. We find it and get it to leave. But If horror movies have taught me anything ghost don't show up until later. So let's have some fun until then. We can watch a movie or play games! Oh! Let's play truth or dare!"

"I don't know if that's a good idea." Sabrina shuddered at the idea of her secrets being revealed.

"Oh, is about your crush on Mar?—" Star didn't finish as Sabrina jumped over covering her mouth.

"You… have a crush on Marco?" Brittney gave Sabrina a look, one she couldn't quiet place. It wasn't anger… betrayal maybe. Fear was another possibility.

As she looked around Janna and Jackie were giving her odd looks too.

"Don't be afraid." Star told her, "I'm sure they will support you too. I mean, you totally have a shot with Marco. I know he thinks you're sweet. You just have to find the courage to ask him out and I'm sure he would say yes. Though if I was you I'd wear a nice skirt, he likes legs so that would really seal the deal."

"You like him?" Brittney asked her.

Sabrina looked Brittney in the eyes and said, "Yes, I do."

The moment landed like a stone. No more words were exchanged, but it felt like a lot had changed.

"Okay, what's going on here?" Star shifted eyes between the girls.

"Ah!" Jackie started but the room started to shake.

The furniture started to float and the lights began to flicker on and off.

"The ghost is here!" Star yelled.

"The ghost is real! I thought you were making stuff up for a chance to cuddle up with Marco!"

"I was!" Janna yelled out.

"Wait, cuddle up? You wanted to cuddle up to Marco? You like Marco too?" Star pointed a finger at Janna.

"Yes, me too Okay!" Brittney yelled. "I like him! He's sweet and cute and he doesn't care that I like embarrassing things!"

"I meant Janna…" Star let her words drift off before ducking to avoid a flying a chair.

"Okay, crushes! Complicated!" Jackie raised her hands, "We have a ghost! What do we do!?"

Getting back on track Janna fumbled her books, "Well, they usually have some unfinished business, or-"

The windows shattered and glass flew everywhere. The girls shrieked afraid for the worse but the glass froze in mid air.

"I don't think ghost do that." Jackie whispered.

"We should probably get Marco." Sabrina suggested.

As the lamps around them started to turn into snakes and snap at them.

"Marco!" Star ran up the stair, she feared that if Marco was already asleep he could be in danger and not realize it. The girls quickly followed after her.

The hallway outside Marco's room was mostly intact but was twisting, turning on itself. Star felt dizzy running down the hall and even finding it hard to stay in a straight line but she didn't care if Marco was in danger. She quickly kicked the door down.

"Marco?"

As the girls reached Star they were all surprised by what they saw. All the items in Marco's room were floating and many changing shapes. But Marco was tossing and turning in his bed mumbling and grunting. His body was covered in sweat, and he as covered in wafting magical energy.

"Marco?" Jackie whispered, "He's the ghost?"

"But he said he wasn't using his wand." Star pointed to a safe that was floating around. "Its in there."

"He's using wandless magic in his sleep, it's the same magic his mom does." Janna told them.

"He's having a nightmare," Sabrina cringed, "and it looks like bad one."

Star started to realize it, Marco must have been using his magic in his sleep the last few nights and never knew.

"We gotta wake him." Brittney walked towards him.

"Watch it!" Star pulled her back pulling her back before Marco's scissors slashes at her.

Star picked up a random book that floated by and tossed it at Marco expecting to wake him.

As the book was about to hit him Marco's hand jolted it up catching it.

"Marco good your up." Star said happily.

Marco floated upwards as the book turned to ash in his hands.

Energy became much more wild lashing out randomly. The room shook and suddenly grew much larger, the girls found themselves in the center of a room whose entrance seemed miles away and the window twisting to the ceiling.

"Marco! Wake up!" Star yelled up.

Marco didn't react expect his eye lids opening up revealing white light. Wind whipped around them as more raised into the air his body limp as he continued to struggle in his dream.

"He is fighting," Star realized, "in his dream he's fighting and fighting hard."

Star started to realize the panic in fear his moments. He wasn't doing this on purpose.

Thought they knew they had to stop him if he didn't end up hurting himself then he'd hurt them without realizing it.

"We gotta wake him!" Star shouted.

"I'm with you Butterfly!" Janna shouted back, "But how?"

The ground beneath them started to crack energy wafting from the cracks. Marco turned to them as energy began to collect before him.

"Marco! Wake up!" Star yelled to him, the other joining him hoping to snap him from his slumber.

The ceiling window shatter and figures rushed in and landed before them taking the blow. As the energy faded away there stood the strongest warrior of Mewni, Mine Loveberry. Oddly Mina was wearing a pair of blue pajamas with teddy bear print and fluffy bunny slippers. She still had on her helmet though.

"What in the name of all things Good is going on?" Mina shouted, "I've been sensing magic from this place, bigger than ever before."

"Wait, You sensed the magic." Star asked her, "Did you sense it the last few nights? Why didn't you say anything?"

"I always sense magic from here."Mina shrugged, "It feels warm I know it's the prince, I assume he was practicing late at night."

Brittney turned to Star, "How did you miss this? It's been happening for days?"

Star shrugged, "My dad snores, we have to be heavy sleepers."

"This is different," Mina told them, "this is a whole new level, this felt like he's about to blow." Mina looked at him worry painted over her face, "This… I don't even know what this is. This crazy! He shouldn't be able to do this! He's too young to be able to use wandless magic! Mewni has had the odd few princess who've managed it at his age but they were rare prodigies, maybe one a century."

"Marco's advance?" Sabrina asked still seeing Marco's energy waft around him randomly attacking.

Mina shook her head, "No this is wrong. Something like this doesn't happen without years of focus and training. Most don't even start until mid to late twenties."

Jackie realized something, "But Marco… but Marco was in his thirties in Hekapoo dimension. Without his wand, could Marco have manage that."

"Marco? I don't know, Marco learns best with instruction but if he was forced into it maybe he could make some head way."Mina looked at him, "I've seen this before, knights and warriors often returning from harsh battles. The nightmares of war, something they experience the worst battles in their dream and toss and turn in their dreams stuck in never ending battles."

Another attack flung the magic book towards them, the pages flipping open revealing a sleeping Glossaryck.

Mina sighed, "Well, he's not gonna be any help. I guess its up to me. Stay back and stay safe, I don't want my prince upset because you all were hurt by him."

Mina grit her teeth and charged at him.

As if sensing her Marco raised a hand. He mumbled, "Crystal shield."

A small crystal on leather band glowed and grew into a shield blocking her attack.

"Yow!" Mina yelled falling back shaking her fist, "Now he gets that shield working!"

Mina was forced to quickly dodge an energy bolt.

"We have to do something." Star said clenching her fist, she was unwilling to stand back when Marco needed help.

"The demon chick," Janna pointed out, "this has been happening since he came back from her dimension. If something happened in her dimension to give him these nightmares maybe she knows how to stop them."

"We can go to her dimension." Jacki suggested "and get her here."

"She works with Marco's mom," Sabrina told them, "Marco said so, and she goes to a lot of dimension doing her job. She might not be there and we don't have time to look for her."

"Duh," Brittney spoke up, "just call her! She's got to have one of those magic mirrors right, call her directly and tell her to get here and help Marco!"

Star pointed upwards to a floating mirror towards them but very high up, "Marco's Mirror we need it!"

Mina continued to dodge the attacks, a whirl wind of air blowing more items around.

"Okay, listen up!" Brittney was going to take charge. "We don't have time to fool around so you are all going to listen to me. Butterfly, get in the center, the rest of us are going to toss you up. You are the only one who knows how to use that thing so get ready to use."

Mina did her best to avoid the attacks, but there many and varied and making it hard for her to get close. Marco created flames in his hand and hurled it at the knight.

Mina caught it, "Hot!" Mina hissed as he grunted and struggled to crush the flames in her hand. As she tried it fought back, "Damn! I don't know if I should be angry or proud that your actually giving me a run for my money! You sure know how to get a girl riled up!"

Mina huffed as she finally crush the flames. She couldn't rest as she jumped back Marco lunged at her energy sword forming in his hands.

"Okay, know my lessons are coming back to bite me." Mina danced around the attacks.

Marco keeping her off balance so she couldn't even power up.

Brittney gave the others a quick explanation of the basket toss.

"On my mark," Brittney told them, she kept an eye on the mirror, "Now!"

The other four quickly gave it their all to give Star a boost. Star leapt into the air just barely grabbed the mirror. She clung to the mirror now realizing she had no way down. It seemed the wind was getting bad as the mirror started to spin around taking her for the ride.

"Mirror Mirror not exactly on the wall," Star clung to the mirror.

The mirror responded, "Please State the name of the contact you wish to call."

"Hekapoo!"

The mirror beeped, "Contact not found."

"What? Marco you spent 16 years with her and you didn't get her number?"

Star swiped the mirror screen, Pony Head's image showed up. "Nope," Star swiped again, this time Tom showing up, "No," Swiping again a familiar skull face showed up, "not this guy," swiped again to find image of a crystal head man and a goat man. "Ah, nope."

"Star what's taking so long?" Janna yelled.

"I can't find her in his contacts." Star swiped again, "Why does Marco have Manfred in his mirror?" Star swiped again to find Mina's image.

"Star try her nickname!" Jackie yelled at her friend. "I don't keep my friends under the name but their nicknames maybe Marco does the same thing."

"Maybe, what did he call her?" Star started to feel her grip slip off, "Uh, H-Poo!"

The mirror quickly flashed a picture of Hekapoo making a kissing motion to the camera, "Calling H-Poo."

Star slipped off and started to fall but lucky for her Brittney planned ahead. The girls moved beneath her and cross their arms and caught her.

"Marco?" They vaguely heard a voice speak out.

Before they could answer a gust of power tossed Mina towards them from the mirror.

The energy around Marco started to turn a dark red and the area around them started to get warm.

"Come on Marco." Mina got up and stood in front of the girls. "I don't ever want to hurt you but its going to hurt you a lot more if you hurt these girls."

Even the girls who knew very little about magic could start to sense what was coming off him.

"Marco!"

A red tear formed in space and Hekapoo stepped out. "It's happening again. I hoped getting back here would stop it."

Sensing the new presence Marco turned to her. Hekapoo didn't bother waiting and rushing towards Marco, with her speed she dodge his attacks with ease. Finally she leapt at him wrapped her arms around him.

Hekapoo sang to him softly and quietly to him, an ancient song in a language none of them had heard.

After a moment the other girls got closer to him.

"I'm here, I'm here, there is nothing to worry about." Hekapoo whispered to Marco.

Marco slowly started to lower them back to the ground and the changes to the room faded away.

Hekapoo pulled Marco close to her, his head resting on her chest.

"Sh, I'm here don't worry." Hekapoo spoke softly, after a moment she realized the other were watching them "This always calms him down, hearing my heart helps relax him."

"What happened?" Mina spoke in a soft tone, "Why is Marco having the Never Ending Nightmares?"

Hekapoo softly ran her fingers through his hair, "During the trial, Marco got into battle against some very bad people. In the end, he won. You could say he won, but by the end a lot of innocent people suffered….Suffered in horrible ways. Marco ended the fighting but it was hard to see it as a victory by then. " Hekapoo pulled him a little closer, "After he started having the nightmares. Every night, but then I found out that if stayed with him he could sleep without issues. A little later he got Nachos and just having her near as he slept helped. Marco, sleeps well enough if he has someone he trusts nearby." Hekapoo smirked a little, "Though I think he might have enjoyed me sleeping next to him more than Nachos."

"What are we going to do?" Star asked, as she looked at Marco, "He can't go through this for the rest of his life."

0000

Moon and River showed up and carefully walked into the living room where they left girls to their slumber party.

"Huh?" Moon mused. "I guess Marco decided to join them for their party."

In a mess of blankets and pillows the girls were and huddled around Marco. Hekapoo in a yellow pajamas slept her arms wrapped around Marco as with his head on her shoulder as he slept on his stomach. Mina slept on Marco's back, Jackie sleeping by his side holding his hand, Brittney hugging his leg, Janna nestled between Marco and Jackie, and Sabrina somehow tangled between Brittney and Marco. Star slept above him her hand sort of slapping his face.

"Have we met the red head?" River asked.

0000

In the morning Mina tucked Marco into his bed before he even woke up.

Star on the other hand walked up to her parents as they prepared breakfast, "Hey mom and dad, I got a favor to ask."

0000

In the backyard Marco found himself smiling as an old friend was reunited with him.

"Nachos!" Marco gave his dragon a big hug happy to have her by his side again.

"Yes, a dragon is a very noble creature. You should make sure to thank the Butterfly's to let you keep here her."

"Yeah, though judging River's reaction it would have been harder to keep him from meeting a dragon."

"Though Keeping a dragon in your room will be troublesome."

"She's a well trained girl." Marco pet the dragon-cycle. "I promised she's stay outside except for bed time. I never knew why but she always insists on sleeping near me."

"Whatever pet you picked up on your adventures doesn't matter. Today we start on your more advance lessons." Glossaryck waved at the wand, "Don't thinkI didn't notice your wand change."

Marco feared that Glossaryck knew and would get Hekapoo in trouble.

"You've matured, you've grown. I think you owe that a lot to those you've chosen to associate yourself with."

Marco was grateful for them, Nachos presence was just one of the many things that Star had helped with. He didn't know why she asked her parents to let him keep Nachos but he was glad she did.

"Today we will work on your control and meditation. You must learn to control your power. So start with practicing controlling what is difficult to control. You tend to have talent with Fire, and wind elements, You practiced very little with water and Earth. Today we will try to control that."

"Okay," Marco nodded.

Glossaryck smiled, soon he'd have to teach him a lesson he didn't expect to start for at least a decade. Marco was already pushing against his limits and the barrier that kept him from dipping down.

Jackie had stayed to help Star clean up. After the fight and everything Mina left to do whatever she did.

Hekapoo left even before Marco woke up, she only came back after Star called her to get Nachos.

After breakfast Brittney, Sabrina all left. Star couldn't help but think that it might have been because of what she found out.

"So, can you believe Sabrina, Janna and Brittney all have crushes on Marco?" Star asked her friend.

"Yeah, that's something," Jackie fidgeted at the mention.

"I mean it, what are the odds?" Star shook her head, "I don't know what's stranger that three girls have a crush on Marco or the fact that I didn't notice it."

Jackie let out a small chuckle, she smiled as she pushed her behind her ear and let out a small sigh, "I can't say I blame them. Marco's a sweet guy who really cares about people. He's a prince and his people treated him like dirt but instead of becoming bitter he became kind. And he keep trying to be better and he just wants to help people."

Star blinked noticing a faint blush on Jackie cheeks, "Do you-"

"Star, what do you think of Marco?"

"Ah, Marco is my best friend. I guess I really haven't known for all that long but it feels like we've known each other for years. Everyday since I'm meet him has been a crazy new adventure even if were just hanging out around the house. I'm just so glad that he's in my life. I honestly can't imagine how my life would be without him anymore."

Jackie looked at her with a strange look, "Star, I think you have to start to think about how you really feel."

Jackie didn't say anymore just picking up her things and walking out.

"What? What are you talking about?" Star shouted, "I thought that was what I just told you!"

Jackie speed up, she had to let Star to figure this out herself. With the others girls, whatever relationship Marco and Hekapoo had, and what Jackie saw as Mina growing more fond of her prince.

Jackie could only hope that whatever the future held it would be good.

* * *

 **Author's Notes: Another chapter in this story. I don't know what to say. Yeah, it's been a tough week for me. My grandmother passed away earlier this week. I'm actually having a hard time writing recently but I just feel like I need to keep going. I've managed to finish. I don't want to drag this note on with this, don't worry about me. I'm fine. I just got to keep myself busy for a while and I have the next chapter planned but I don't think I'll be writing for a little bit.**

 **So please just leave a review of what you guys think. Do you think the character and their relationships are developing good? What do you guys think of my take on the story? And the so on.**


	14. Chapter 14: Fortune Cookies

**Marco Vs The Forces of Darkness**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Star vs the forces of evil.**

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Chapter 14: Fortune Cookies

Star had been friends with Janna for the longest time. Recent revelations revealed Janna had been keeping a secret, she had a crush on their mutual friend.

After she had a bit of time Star was a little hurt that she didn't trust her with that secret. It didn't help that after that secret was revealed their little group started to move apart and everyone was avoiding each other. Most notably was that Brittney cancelled the cheer squad meetings just to make sure she avoided Sabrina.

Star didn't want Marco to find out, she figured that he'd feel guilty causing rifts between friends. So she took it on herself to fix things.

Star found herself sitting across Janna at their favorite local Chinese restaurant. She figured it would be best to Start with the person she knew the best.

"This was a good idea, Butterfly." Janna said contently, "It's been a while since we've come here."

"Yeah." Star looked at the menu. "What to order?"

"You order the same thing every time we come here."

"Right, but let's not order for a couple of minutes."

"What are you-?"

"Hey!"

Janna flinched as she turned to see Marco waved at them from the door.

"What's he doing here?" Janna hissed at Star, "I thought it was just going to be us."

"Oh! Well, I might have forgotten that I invited him."

Janna was about to say something when Marco reached their table "Sorry if I was late, I was busy finishing giving Nachos her lunch. Just let me wash my hands before we eat."

Marco headed off to the wash room and Janna gave Star a glare.

"Fine, I planned something. Look, you said you liked Marco but you haven't done anything. Let me help! Okay, I know I'm a little biased because I also promised to support Sabrina but I can help you both. I'll set up moment for you to be alone with Marco and you can see what happens. Okay, so in like five minutes I'm going to pretend to get a text from my mom and take my food to go and you and Marco can have lunch together and just talk."

Janna was going to tell her off when Marco came back, "Thanks for waiting for me."

Star smiled as she looked at her friends, "Oh! Look at that it's my phone. I shall get that."

"No! Sorry that was me I butt dialed you." Janna pulled out her phone.

"But-"

Janna grabbed Star's phone, taking right from her hand and pocketed it, "Let me hold onto that for you. You know, before you lose it."

"Ah, sure." Star had no idea what Janna was up to.

They decided to get a big platter and share it, as they ate Marco asked, "How did that ghost thing work out for you guys?"

"Oh! That!" Star looked at Marco, "Don't you worry your pretty little head about it. That was nothing you have to worry about."

"Yeah, it was a wild goose chase." Janna poked at her chow mei. She reached over for a fortune cookie and a thought struck her, "You said ghost are real?"

"Yeah,"Marco told her, "Though I don't have experience with them, just read up on them."

Janna kept her eyes on her food, "There are a lot of stories about magical things here on Earth but I've never seen them."

"Right,"

"So, are goblins real?"

"Yeah, according to Pony Head one runs a truck with great hot dogs. But they have long lines as she wants help waiting in line."

"Pixies?"

"Yeah, Pixtopia has the market cornered on magic mirror service."

"Mermaids?"

"Yeah they are part of the Waterfolk? Yeah, they have a kingdom in my dimension."

"Right," Janna held up a cookie, "is there anyway for people to see the future?"

"Yeah, that's real too."

"Wait!" Star interrupted, "Fortune cookies tell the future?! I was right!" She cracked the cookie eager to get the secrets it held.

"Star," Marco began, "those are just random messages printed on paper and inserted in random cookies. Though I know there are calzones that tell you exactly how you die."

"Wait!" Janna refocused the conversation, "So people can really see the future? Like in dreams and stuff?"

"Seers, Oracles, fortune tellers, I mean, it's not a super common gift but it's not an unheard of ability or skill. But sometimes people just randomly have visions, and yes something it's in their dreams."

Star noticed a small twinkle in Janna's eyes, she had something on her mind.

"I want you to go with me somewhere."

0000

Janna had taken them to a tiny little shop at a corner, normally it wouldn't even stand out.

Marco's eyes fell on the sign with a single eye on it, though Star focused on all the occult symbols on the window. She wondered if any of them were real.

"So, this is where you get all your witchy stuff?" Star questioned her friend.

"Yeah." Janna said with a smirk as she casually walked in.

The store was filled with shelves of books and table filled with all sorts of occult items.

"Hey Janna, brought some friends with you?" The clerk behind the counter greeted her.

"Yeah, Uh, do you know if Asterix is free?"

The clerk just blinked, "Yeah, she should be free. Never thought you'd ever go to her."

"Well, today is a special day."

A place like this was small little shop, usually they have a small group of loyal customers and many people looking for something special and even more just people who were curious who made up Their clientele. They usually made most of their money from hosting special events, usually niche books having a focus or inviting in expert in the paranormal to hold a small lecture or talk. But they also had something special, in the back they had a fortune teller.

Of course Janna wasn't gullible, she believed in lots of things but wasn't one to let her belief blind her. She just assumed the fortune teller was a regular person, that the whole reading was just done for entertainment and fun. She'd seen the price list by the back door and it wasn't too expensive so anyone who did believe wasn't really getting robbed. But everyone who'd gone to the woman had said that she knew stuff about them and had strange moments of clarity where she'd see into their future.

She just thought people were getting carried away with the fun… but Marco just confirmed there were people who could see the future. He also confirmed that even legends had spark of truth, maybe there was some magic here on Earth and she had questions that needed answers.

She glanced over at Marco studying the sign that told them about the psychic and it didn't look like he was buying it.

Star on the other hand,"Ooooh! A Fortune teller!"

Star went to the knock on the door when a voice rang out, "Come in!"

Star gasped. "She knows!"

Janna sighed, Knowing it was likely that the clerk sent a message to her or that there was a motion sensor by the door to alert her someone was there.

They opened the door to find a young woman dressed in what you'd expect a fortune teller at a carnival to be dressed in. She sat at a small round table with table cover covering the whole thing up, and almost cliche crystal ball sitting on top of that. The room was poorly lit and decorated with all sorts of weird looking knick-knacks.

"Come in, come in," She waved them in. "take a seat."

As the trio sat down and Star stared in awe.

"I'm Madam Asterix I take it you're here to have your future told."

Excitedly Star squealed, "She knows!"

"Star," Marco told her, "that's why everyone comes here."

Asterix smiled, "So we finally meet, Janna. You are something of a little legend here. You come most of the events we hold here and you take advantage to everything we have to offer yet you've never come to see me."

"Well, you can say I was waiting for the right time." Janna told her softly. "I'm hoping you can do a card reading for us."

"Huh, a group reading? Not a problem." She pulled out a stack of cards and started to shuffle them. "Anything specifically you want me to look into?"

"Just tell us our future."

"If that's what you wish." The fortune teller spoke with a sly grin as she put down the cards. "Oh spirits from beyond! Please hear my call, please grant me with the sight to see beyond the mist of time and unveil what is yet to come."

Star cooed to herself, Marco spoke softly almost whispering to himself, "So, invoking to spirits for power? Okay, simple enough."

Marco looked to the side to a portrait of a rainbow colored serpent.

Janna doubted anyone else heard him, Star focused on Asterix dealing out the cards.

She placed three cards down, one in front of them. Flipping the card in front of Star, "Oh! The star!" It was a card with a woman holding a jug of water as a star hung over head.

"Oh! That's my name!" Star said with glee.

Janna was not impressed, they'd said her name. A good card shark could pull out the card they wanted, all it took was a bit of sleight of hand.

"You are someone with a great inner light, you have a spirit that helps lead people to find their own strength and show them the truth."

Star's eyes gleamed, thinking that was a great description.

Asterix flipped the card in front of Janna, "Let's see, the High Priestess, you are someone who has great dreams and desires that you reach for no matter how far away they seems to be. Also you are a keeper of great secrets whose life is intertwined with the divine."

Janna just stared at the card of a woman wearing green robes sitting on a throne holding a glowing staff with a red crescent moon at her feet.

"And finally," She flipped the last card, "the magician."

Marco studied the card, it was of a young man in red robes holding a wand as the symbol of infinite floated above him.

"You have great untapped potential. This card often represents great heroes and villains who willed great power. You can accomplish great things but you must take your chance where it comes."

Marco was not all that impressed, those descriptions were fairly vague it wouldn't be hard for anyone to see meaning in them to match to themselves.

"That's who you are," Asterix said as she laid down another three cards "and this is what the future holds."

She flipped a card to two people in an embrace, "Hm, the lovers, you are bound together your fates and intertwined."

Star smiled as she looked over at Marco and Janna taking her own interpretation of the lovers card.

Marco didn't seemed to react to it but Jann turned away a little a faint blush forming on her cheeks.

"By the moon?" Asterix looked at the card, it was red crescent moon.

"My mom?" Star questioned it.

"No, the moon card doesn't represent any person. This is a symbol of passion of wild emotions." The fortune teller three a glance at Janna only worsening her blush. She flipped the final card, it was of pf three people holding up cups. "Hm, the three of cups. With these other cards, it tells me that you are given a choice. You can remain together but you need make a choice, to accept and understand your emotions. You need to understand your wants and desire but if you do that you will have a future together."

She gave them a warm smile, "It looks like you three have a long future together."

Star smiled delighted to know no matter what happened they be together.

Janna got up, "Thank you."

Marco told her, "Why don't you guys go out side, I'll pay up and meet you in a moment."

Star watched Janna hurry outside the door, "Okay, I guess."

Marco took out his wallet to pay her. Now that they were alone, "I know your doing your job but I was hoping you were going to do better."

"Excuse me?" Asterix asked.

"I know your pretending you have powers for fun and entertainment but my friend really wants to believe there is magic on Earth and I saw through you and I'm sure she did too."

Insulted the fortune teller spat back, "Excuse you, I do have the gift. What I did was look into the future to pull out a peek."

"Everything was vague, it could have fit for anyone."

Asterix glared as she gathered and shuffled her cards, the slapped them down. "Cut the deck."

0000

"Janna?" Star found her friend out side. "What's wrong? I've known you long enough to know when you are upset."

"It's-It's- the fortune."

"What about it? It was nice. It mean that no matter what we will be friends and everything, as long as we try it should happen."

"Yeah, it sounds nice but-but I know its fake. She was scamming us, she was just reading us, making deductions and telling us what we wanted to believe. And I really want to believe that lie."

"Janna, you're hiding something. I'm your friend, we've known each other since we were small. Please don't push me out. Please tell me what's wrong. Is it about your crush on Marco?"

Janna cringed, "Yes! No! I don't know. I had a dream. That night that Marco freaked out and we ended up sleeping next to him. It seemed so real and-Ugh!" She raised her hands in the air, "I was dreaming that I was next to Marco sleeping in the same bed. We were older and-well we had kids. There was this little girl and a little boy, they were sleeping in between us. The little girl holding her little brother like he was the most precious thing in the world and they both had cheek marks. And I just saw so much of us in them. And Sabrina was there."

"Sabrina?"

"She was on Marco other side and she was nuzzling another baby girl with cheek marks, she was tugging on her hair and she was adorable. I don't know what was happening, I would have been fine being is second wife but-was I Marco's mistress or was Sabrina the mistress did he married both of us! Sabrina is cute, I'm fine sharing. But why Sabrina?"

"She's the underdog, she's nice and everything it's hard not to root for her." Star explained as she started to realize it was something else. "Are you okay?"

"No, I'm just so confused. It just felt so real, like I want it to be real. I-I wanted-I hoped she'd be the real deal and could tell but-she basically told me that and she was a fake! I don't know!"

Star looked at her friend, this was her first major crush. It was crushing her bad, she just didn't know how to deal with it.

Star took her hand and smiled, "Okay, theres no need to stress. You have lots of time to figure this out and I'll help. I promise you I'lll help you out, for now take a breath and relax. I think there is an ice cream place down the street, let's get some."

Janna took a breath and smiled, "Yeah, there isn't any need to stress."

Hearing that everything would be fine, that Star would be their help Janna leading her out of the turmoil in her own heart and just giving a bit of peace.

As they walked off Star stayed silent, a thought struck her, she had on odd dream while sleeping next to Marco once, about a future together and they had kids and there was another girl too.

Weird.

0000

Marco did as she told him, he noticed an odd pattern on the back of the card it almost looked like it was shifting and the card felt strangely warm when he touched them.

"I'm the real deal," Asterix told him, "and I know those cards are special and I'm going to show it to you."

She pulled the first card and flipped it, "The Magician again, this represent you." She began to lay out cards. " Your power, your potential, and who you could be."

She flipped another card," You come from two powerful people." The first one was of a man standing besides a wheel, and flipping the other was that of the sun, the very image of his mother's cheek marks. "Your father is a lucky man, one that does not fear change but embraces it. Your mother bring hope and dispels fears. She's kind and brave, she's a leader and wields a strong heart."

"Still very vague." Marco told her.

She flipped two more cards, one was a purple devil, " The Devil, someone whose remained by your side. They have negative emotions, a temper but they've tried their best to lead you down a path. To bring out something in you that you've neglected."

She flipped another card, one of a blue unicorn leading a chariot, "The chariot, someone on your side whose always been strong willed, made her own path. Yes, a girl, loud one at that too, one that never backs down. Once that spirit broke you apart but now you've come together again. You admired their confidence and inner strength."

"Okay, that's more specific." Marco had to admit.

She laid down several more cards and flipped them as if each card was slowly revealing a story to her. As she flipped them again the Star and the High Priestess were shown again. "There are a great many that stand besides you and care for you."

She flipped another card, it was of red haired lady with a black crown, "The Empress, someone of great importance to you. The Empress is associated with love and creations Someone that creates, that renews, whose causec great change in you."

She flipped another card one of a woman with long black hair as her figure was surrounded by a reef. "The world, someone who cares for you, someone you've brought great joy and understanding to and one who wishes to return that to you."

The next card was of a young woman with brown hair standing before a burning collapsing tower, "A young woman, one who sees you as a protector in more than one way. She is an unfortunate soul, whose stars fall in misfortune. She'd gladly walk through a life time of misfortune just for you."

The next card,"The Judgement, " It was of a knight covered in gleaming armor with purple hair sticking out of their helmet, "Hm, someone with a great sense of self but recently they've begun to change their mind of their foundations. You made them looks at the world in a new way. It scares them, you make them feel weak a sensation they have not felt in a very long time."

The next card was of a young woman with short blonde hair who sat next to a lion, "Strength, this card aligns with someone with a strong inner self. Someone often tied to Earth and Water, someone who lives in the moment capable of adapting yet very grounded. She wishes to help you, she sees your burden and wishes to help carry it."

The next to revealed was one of a prince on a throne holding a sword, followed by a card of a queen holding a sword, and followed by a card of a man crossing two sword while blond folded, "A suit of swords, fate has plans for you a destiny you are running towards but there is a chance to change it, to avert it. A choice must be made." The lights flickered off and the air swirled around them.

"Huh?" Marco mused, "Wind machine, the controls under the table, right?"

Outside in the shop books began to fly off the shelfs and glass began to crack as those there stared in shock.

Asterix pulled out a card. "The future holds terrible plan for you and a choice that you can make. When the time comes take her hand as scared as you are, take her hand."

Asterix collapsed onto the table and everything stopped.

"You see that would been great! That was a show. I almost believed it! That actually sent shiver down my spine." Marco took out some money and placed it on the table, it was more than enough to cover two readings plus a nice tip. "That would have been great for Janna."

Marco paused since she wasn't moving, "Whatever, the show must go on." Marco paused taking a moment to see the final card she held. It was of a dark haired woman with snow like skin and eyes like gold who wore black and white elegant clothing.

Marco's phone buzzed and he began to walk outside, he focused on his phone at the message on the screen. "Oh! Ice cream, that sounds good." Marco walked out of the store without noticing the destruction.

0000

Asterix woke up a half hour later, she sighed feeling tired and confused. She didn't know but she couldn't remember what she had been doing, had she fallen asleep. She looked at the cards and they seemed off. They didn't seem like how she remembered them, the colors and designs seemed different. She found the moon card on the table, it looked pale when she was certain that it had been red. As she got up she found a card stuck to her face.

Pulling it off her face to find a dark hair woman, she didn't recognize this card. She moved her thumb revealing the woman was holding a scythe, she rubbed her eyes and looked back and that card now was a skeletal figure dressed in black. "The Death Card."

She couldn't figure out why but she had a terrible feeling of dread.

* * *

 **Author's Notes: Hey, so first off thank to everyone for your condolences after my grandmother's passing. I'm coping. I'm trying to get into writing, I've got projects I'm working on and I don't want to fall behind. So to try and warm up maybe try to post something I wrote a while ago but never really got into. So this is just a little something. I don't know when the next chapter will be up because that one will be a turning point and I want to do a really good job on it before posting. It probably going to be a while but I hope it will be worth it and it will be very emotional. I think you guys will like what I have in mind. So until please leave a review and tell me what you guys think of this chapter.**


	15. Chapter 15: Interdimensional Field Trip

**Marco Vs The Forces of Darkness**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Star vs the forces of evil.**

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Chapter 15: Interdimensional Field Trip

Tick tock of a clock.

The Sands of an Hour glass.

Time slips away, thats its nature, to ask it to do anything else would be foolish and selfish.

Basically you can't fight fate, no matter why or how hard you might wish to.

Marco Diaz was to be the future king of Mewni, and despite all the trouble and pain that brought him he never actually sought to escape that fate.

"My Prince," Mina was seeing Marco off. "I'm still not sure about this. At least let me come along and make sure your safe."

It was Marco's first field trip, his fellow students were gathered in front of the bus as they prepared to board.

"Marco," Marco told her, "I told you to call me Marco not your prince."

Mina pouted, "Fine, my Marco."

"Fine, close enough," Marco just sighed.

"It's one thing for you to go to this School, but if you leave I can't prepare the place in case of attack."

"It will be-" Marco paused, "Prepare? You've prepared for attacks? What did you do?"

"Ugh, nothing," Behind her a small sniffed dog at the school gate and raised a leg when the ground fell beneath him and trapped it in a pit. "Huh, but you are going to this place without even checking the terrain in the first place. At least have me come along just in case something happens."

"Mina," Marco reassured her, "it's going to be a simple trip, I'll be back right before the school day ends, Star tells me they go to at least one of these trips every year and nothing goes wrong. And if anything goes wrong," he patted his pocket and pulled out his scissors. "I have a way out."

"Fine!" Mina huffed, "But I'm going to wait here until you get back."

Marco smiled, "Fine, but that's not an order."

Marco smiled at her, she was wearing her blue dress with bunny instead of her uniform. He liked it, she was coming to get used to Earth. She was adjusting and making it a home, Marco still saw her as brilliant knight but he could see her acting more like girl her age and just enjoying life. Marco smiled at the thought.

"Marco! We have to get going!" Star yelled at him from the line.

"Okay, I gotta go." Marco told her, "I'll see you later."

As Marco got on the bus Mina waved good bye.

0000

"This the Echo Creek Museum of Paperclips," Skullnick said as they arrived at the museum. "We will next day hours learning about the genius of this little bent wire."

Skullnick waved over to a large paper clip.

The students all moaned annoyed.

"Miss Skullnick! Stop, this hurts!"

"So boring! Aaahhh!"

"Why must you torture us!"

"Well, you know what?" Skullnick shot back, "Life is boring."

"Miss Skullnick," Star started, "life is supposed to be fun!"

"I used to think that, but now I'm fifty and all my dreams are in the rear view mirror. The best thing in my life is teaching you kids, and I hate teaching you."

"Cause you're doing it all wrong."

"And you think you can do it better?"

"Well, I know someone who can. A natural born leader," Star finished her statement by turning and waving over to Marco.

"Huh? Me?" Marco looked on confused.

Star ran over to him, "Come on, Marco. This place is so boring. You've traveled the multiverse, there has to be a place thats more fun to go."

"Star, this trip is supposed to be educational." Marco argued.

"Well," Jackie stepped in, "yeah, but isn't there somewhere that would be exciting and we'd still learn something? I mean, you have to know somewhere, maybe we could learn something about Mewni's history or something."

"Yeah" Star added, "Maybe some place you like to go but haven't been in a while."

Marco rubbed his chin thinking.

0000

Moments later Marco climbed on the hood of the bus with scissors in hand, he jumped off cutting open a rift large enough for the bus. He quickly climbed back on the bus and it drove through the rift.

"Okay, we're here." Marco announced as the buss stopped almost immediately in front of large crystalline gates.

Marco stepped off the bus with everyone else close behind this.

The Gate slammed open a thick fog pouring and a tall ominous figure walked out.

"Who dares!-" The Figure turned right at Marco, "Marco?"

"Rhombulus!" Marco shouted and ran right at him before he ran to him and gave him a hug. "I haven't seen you in so long."

"Aw, well, I missed you too, kiddo."

The rest of the class was in a state of shock as they watched Marco hug a buff guy with a crystal head and snakes for arms.

Brittney being the first one to find their voice, "Uh, Marco, who is this guy?"

"Oh!" Marco announced him, "This Sir Rhombulus Enforcer of the High Commission and Keeper the Greatest Evils of the Universe."

"Aw, shucks." Somehow the crystal man blushed. "Wait, what are they doing here?"

"Ah, well, I was hoping I could show my class around?"

"Hm, I don't know."

"Please!" Marco's eyes sparkled, "It would be so cool."

"Lekmet would probably say no," Rhombulus looked around, "but he's not here."

Star and Jackie smiled recognizing the crystal headed man and the importance he held to Marco.

Brittney took a step hesitantly, "Ah, Marco, I'm guessing he's like a servant or something."

Marco smiled, "No, he's far more than that. He's the man that saved my grandmother, he's also my honorary uncle and godfather."

"Oh!" Brittney spoke up, "Well, it's a pleasure to meet you." Brittney held out her hand. "I'm Brittney Wong."

"Nice to meet you," He shook her hand

"Ow! You got you thumb in my eye."

Brittney looked down to find her hand grabbing a snake hand, she quickly pull her hand back letting out a meek, "Sorry."

"Oh! I forgot to introduce you to Righty and Lefty."

"Good to see you Marco." One of the snake heads smiled at him.

They always liked Marco, they'd known him since he was young and he was the one that gave them names. He treated them like they were their own people.

They had a soft spot for him.

"I was hoping you guys could give them a tour." Marco spoke.

Rhombulus spoked him, "Well, I could do that but why don't you don't you do it. "

"Really?"

"Yeah, of course, I mean if told you about each and every one of them like a hundred times."

Marco smiled and Rhombulus tilted his head, "You look different."

"Really?"

"Yeah, what happened two your rubies?"

"Oh, that's a thing." Marco quickly changing the conversation before someone over head about the make up he pulled out his wand, "Look my wand changed!"

Rhombulus blinked, "Weird, not a bad weird, it's just that not a lot of your ancestors had their wand change. I just guess that mean your time on Earth has really changed you."

"For the better I hope."

"Mister Diaz," Skullnick walked over, "huh, mister Diaz, what's going on? I don't think you ever actually said what this place is. Is this a sort of museum?"

"No, it's actually a prison."

"…A prison?"

Most of them were stunned, they would never have expected the Safety Prince to take the class to a prison.

"Okay, everyone back on the bus!" Skullnick yelled out.

"Wait!" Marco quickly got in-front of her holding out the wand, he quickly shoved it into his hoodie's pocket, "This is actually the safest place I know."

Nearby Sabrina was taking a peak pass the gates, "Pretty."

The other classmates took a peek to find an endless maze of crystals.

"Oooooh!" Star cooed. "Come on Miss Skullnick let us see this!"

The rest of the class moved closer to the gate despite the protests that Skullnick put up.

They all saw the massive hall covered in shimmering crystals.

Janna moved over closer to one and noticed it held a horror monster looking thing. "What's that?"

"That's the Zedlord," Marco started off, "he blew up an entire planet. But the commission hunted him down, they were lead by my great-great-great-great grandmother the Queen of the Sky-"

And thus Marco began the tour telling his class mates of his families histories along with the history of his world. Marco had felt like an outsider for a long time on Earth, it was a feeling that never truly left but for now he didn't really feel it. As his class listened he felt accepted for once.

"So," Rhombulus spoke as he moved over to Skullnick, "you're his teacher, right?"

"Yes," The troll replied.

"Huh, I didn't think they had trolls on Earth."

"Yeah, thats a long story."

"It's just pretty weird to see a someone so young being a teacher, I always picture teachers being like old."

"I'm fifty."

"So? That's barely teens for trolls."

"Wait what? Are you saying in troll years I'm a teen?"

"Yeah, I guess."

"I thought I was going through the big change but I'm going through by puberty." Skullnick chuckled at the revelation.

"Mind if I ask you something?" The crystal headed guard asked.

"Sure," She sensed the worry in his voice.

"Is Marco doing okay? I mean, is he fitting in? Are the other kids making fun of him or something?"

"No, he's doing well. He's made a close knit group of friends."

"That's good," He sounded relieved, "Marco's always had trouble fitting in and making friends."

He looked over to the sitting area and to a small TV. On TV laid a small tape labeled Sensei Brantley Karate Tapes. It was some sort of martial arts tapes someone was selling and that Rhombulus found one day. He shared them with Marco and they learned from them. Rhombulus helped him spar and help him fight. He wanted him to be ready for whatever the world would throw at him but also at the same time never hoped he'd have to use them.

One of Rhombulus deepest hopes was that Marco would get to live a long, happy, peaceful life. That the people he was trying to help would see all the good he was trying to do and accept him.

0000

Elsewhere amongst the crystals someone else was having their own issues.

Janna was conflicted, she couldn't enjoy the trip. That dream still haunted her, still plagued her. She wished someone could give her some answer, some explanation.

It seemed so real of did she just want it to be real. She'd hoped against common sense that a random fortune teller could give her some answer but no.

She didn't know if this would give her answer either. In her hands she held Marco's wand it had already transformed into the green shape it took in her hands.

Normally she didn't care if she borrow something from Marco, but he'd always kept his wand close and guarded. This was the first she really had a chance, he just mindlessly stuffed it into a pocket and distracted by talking to everyone it was easy to grab it.

She couldn't even enjoy having a magical wand, like last time she didn't know what to do. She was half thinking of grabbing Brittney to see what it was like when she used it.

She didn't know what to expect, deep down she kinda wanted the wand to grant her answers. But even after all her study she didn't know what to say or do. Her mind couldn't even make up a spell.

She wandered off on her own hoping something would strike, that some idea would pop into her mind.

Something to give her some peace. She slumped against a random crystal and looked at the wand, "So, what am I supposed to do?" She tapped the wand against her forehead, she let out a small dry and tired chuckle, "Do you know how I can use this to help me?"

She looked at the crystal and took a step back confused. All the crystals had monsters and evil things but this one was different. Janna would say the woman inside it looked human except for the marks on her cheek.

"Ah-" Janna looked on confused before he hand's jolted.

The wand's gem started to turn black and moved towards the crystal. Janna gripped the wand as hard as she couldn't so it wouldn't fly away.

"No! No! No!" The wand pulled her closer to the crystal and the woman's cheek marks began to glow. The wand pulsed with power as if something from deep inside of it was responding to the woman.

0000

Marco pointed to the large crystal, "And this was once upon the time considered the most dangerous creature in the Universe. The Manticore Tarea, it was once a normal Manticore but a demon enchanted him and planned to use him as a guard dog but he grew too smart and too vicious and too strong to control. He killed his former master and then found that it had a taste for killing. It went out into the multiverse and started slathering just because it could. It relished in the pain and the horror it brought to the world. Though it would still eat it's victims like any animal, it didn't give them quick death, it savored them even going as far as to prepare them and make them into grand meals all while they were still alive. It took months before the commission could properly corner it and trap it."

Marco looked on his class mates paled in shock as the giant beast in crystal behind Marco. It was the size building and its paw could easy squish any person it contacted. It was alike a lion mixed with a large reptile, it had six legs and a long tail like that of scorpion. Also it had a pair of dragon like wings.

Marco decided to move on, "Ah, the next one-" Marco stopped as he reached that of a lizard man, "The Immortal Monster Toffee." He said in little more than a growl.

"Go back a second!" Justin shouted, "That thing isn't going to get out, right? I've seen way too many movies and huge vicious monster and locked up and everyone says its safe but then they start eating everyone."

"Don't worry," Marco waved off his concern, "no one has ever escaped one of these crystals. There are probably three things in the whole universe than can undo them. One of them is Glossaryck my teacher, the other is Rhombulus himself. And then maybe a super tier magic, but-"

A strange light filled the sky as it emanated from amongst the crystals and it seemed to make all the crystals tremble.

0000

"No! No! No!" Janna struggled with the wand, every feeling in her gut was telling her she needed to make it stop.

She tried to turn it away away, as it turned to the crystals felt something coming out and she gave it her all to turn it. Magic fired out and Janna yelled out twisting it. She spun as the beam fired out.

0000

"Duck!" Marco yelled out just as the beam shot passed them.

It seemed like the world had been tossed around by the sudden explosion of power. As he blinked open his eyes he noticed everyone was tossed around, but they didn't seem hurt just stunned. What worried him was how the crystals were all tossed around. Still not worrisome dropping them would not break any open.

Then there was a growl and shiver went down Marco's spine. Marco had experienced this sensation many times before in Hekapoo dimensions, it was instinct and the sensation of suddenly becoming a creature's prey.

Marco turned back but only saw a light blue fog.

"That's not possible." Rhombulus ran up and in-front of Marco.

"Rhombulus!" A voice echoed from within the fog, it was like dragging old steel against stone.

Rhombulus raised his hands to fry a beam into the god but before he could manage to fire something struck his chest.

He gasped as a sharp spike dug itself into his chest. The spike was pulled out soon the rest of the tail snaked out and wrapped around him and tossed him to the side.

Rhombulus yelped in pain as he landed on the hard floor, he hissed as green veins spread out from his wound. He struggled to move but found himself unable to.

"Did you really think I'd allow you to try the same trick twice?"

Wings flapped dispelling the fog, now standing amongst the vaporized remains of it's broken prison was Tarea.

"You know, I think I might have jinxed us." Justin admitted with a shudder.

They were looking at a true monster in every sense of the word, what stood before them sought only pain and suffering and lacked all sense of mercy. It would soon as killed them all for a laugh as soon as it would eat them for a snack.

Its deep voice bellowed down the halls, "It has been so long since I've feasted." Its stretched out it's limbs as he looked upon the children gathered there.

Marco jumped before them, "I won't let you."

Tarea chuckled dryly, "Hello little man, human is it?" He sniffed the air, "Humans are such bland meat, still I haven't had it in centuries maybe it would serve as a good palate cleanser. Wait," He sniffed again focusing on Marco, "your Mewman," He growled, "you even smell like that blasted queen!"

Marco patted his pockets looking for his wand but never finding it. He mentally scolded himself, had he dropped it just when he needed it?

"Run!" Rhombulus yelled still struggling to move but the toxin in his body keeping him from moving and zapping his strength.

Marco felt the heat, he had been around Hekapoo long enough to know when fire was coming. He looked back to where his friends were most stunned by fear of the monster. Even Star looked scared but she held out her fist ready fight or at least try. Brittney and Sabrina were holding each other in terror, Jackie looked around trying to make sure all her friends were safe.

The manticore opened its jaw and flames shot out blinding them all.

Jackie covered her face in hopes to protect herself but as she realize she wasn't struck she lowered her arms.

Marco was standing before them his arms crossed as his crystal shields glowing and expanding as he poured magic into them. They grew larger and reenforced them as best he could, they started to spin to deflect some of the attack.

Marco found his feet dragging across the ground as the attack continued to push back. His hands shaking as he struggled against the attack.

"Run!" Marco cried out, he mentally scolded himself. If he was in his older body he could manage a bit better, if he kept his wand on him like he was supposed to, if he had done any number of things differently.

Marco closed his eyes and silently prayed for the strength he needed right now.

Janna rand from the crystals the wand now no longer acting strange, she ran to find Marco and the others and make sure they were safe. She found them as to see flames scorching the shield.

Marco eyes glowed and his cheek marks lit up and the shield glowed.

Tarea shouted, "What's this? Magic?! No! I will not be denied!"

Tarea pushed forwards his flames turning purple and as they struck the shield the shield began to dissolve.

The flames disrupted magic and for a magic user that could spell death, Marco in his wild fury didn't notice as he poured more and more magic into his shield.

With a loud thunderous crack the shield ripped apart and their eyes were blinded by light.

0000

"Ow," Found himself laying on a cold stone floor.

He didn't know where he was, this place looked different. It was dark and had a slight fog crawling upon the ground, the place looked ancient and filled with elaborate decorative pillars.

Marco got up and started to look around, as he moved he realized he was hearing music.

It was violin music and he followed it nearby to a stair case leading to a large wooden door with a light escaping through it's cracks.

But his eyes turned to the woman standing middle of the stairs playing the violin.

She was beautiful, she was young looking woman with milk white skin and hair as black as a night without stars with two cat like hair buns. She wore an elegant black and white dress.

Marco was stunned by her music, this music was not by a prodigy this was music forged by passion and time, and plenty of practice reaching this incredible skill. Each and every note was perfect or as close to perfect as Marco could imagine. Each note struck his soul and brought out emotions and bringing him to tears. He felt blessed to even hear such music.

The song, it was so strange, yet familiar it was as if every moment of the day since the day he was born he'd been hearing that song but for the first time he could really hear it. The song was passionate, the song was brave and sad and about the joys of life and all of it's turmoils. Somehow the song encompassed everything and nothing at the same time.

He didn't want it to end but at the same time he wanted it to end, to see how it would end.

With one last movement of the bow the music came to and end and Marco applauded.

The woman opened her golden eyes and turned to Marco and gave him a bow.

"I'm sorry, you got me in the middle of my practice."

"No, I'm sorry for interrupting." Marco apologized, "That was beautiful, what was that piece?"

"That old song? Just something me and my husband have been working on for a long time." She walked towards Marco a smile on her face, it was warm and so very kind.

She reached the bottom of the steps and looked right at Marco, and as she stood closer Marco was overwhelmed with the sense of familiarity. Like he'd met this woman before. He could see she had pointed ear, was she an elf ambassador?

"I'm sorry, have we met? You look so familiar."

"We've had a few brushes." Her smile was practically glowing, "But I've been around you forever. Still I didn't expect to see you like this so soon." Her smile turned sad, "Prince Marco Ubaldo Diaz,"

Marco shuddered as she spoke his name but didn't know why, it felt so important that she had spoken his name.

Gently, almost motherly, she brushed a few strands of hair from his eyes, "The last Heir of the Mewni Crown."

"Last?"

"As things stand, yes. Your family have long since fought to keep magic balanced and for all your service and the importance you've had on the universe I thought it was only proper that I greet you in person."

"Who are you?"

"I'm Death, and Marco Diaz you just died."

0000

The flames withered away and Rhombulus was first to break the silence.

"MARCO!" He tried to move and he managed to roll a little but not enough to matter.

On the floor was Marco on moving body as the light on his cheeks faded away the marks growing dim, his clothes ripped and like patches of his skin covered in burn marks. His tiny little wings stuck out from his back a twitched but quickly stopped.

There was a faint clink as Janna dropped the wand, her legs dropping her too. Her heart ached.

Sabrina found her throat go dry and slowly grip on Brittney for comfort. Britteny whimpered to herself as she felt warm tears flow down her cheeks.

Jackie looked on her body felt so cold, she tried to tell herself this wasn't happening despite the evidence before her.

Star's hands were trembling she wanted to fight, she wanted to do anything but her vision was getting blurry and something inside her felt like it broke.

The manticore's tail moved over towards Marco and its tip pluck up his limp body by his torn hoodie.

Tarea sniffed him, "Hm, if he focused his shield to himself he might have lasted a bit longer." He licked his lips, "He has the cheek marks and such small wings. Yes, he has to be her descendant. Ha! A male heir, I would never have imagined. And what a treat I get to have him all for myself. It's a bit burned but I'm not to waste such a rare delicacy."

Tarea opened his mouth as he raised Marco's body closer.

You can't fight fate and the end that will always come. And to all those present it seemed like Marco fate had just arrived.

* * *

 **Author's Notes: Okay, getting back into writing. I've been editing video lately, an abridge series. It's called Soul Eater** Meisterhood **. If interested go check it out on youtube. I'm getting back into my writing so please be patient as I get back around to all the fics I owe an update. Until next time leave a review and tell me what you think.**


	16. Chapter 16: Dealing With Death

**Marco Vs The Forces of Darkness**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Star vs the forces of evil.**

* * *

Chapter 16: Dealing with Death

There was more heaven and Earth than dreamt of in your philosophy. It was a quote from a book Marco read on Earth, he liked that phrase because it poetic and true. He knew magic was real as he found most on Earth didn't believe in it.

Still he knew there was more. There forces that rules the Universe, though magic was a component of the universe it could survive without. There were countless worlds that had little to no contact with magic. If magic was removed the universe would be different but it would continue.

Most people on Mewni would never be able to use magic. It was important but it wasn't everything.

Glossaryck once went over that with him, Marco assumed at first that it was to keep him grounded and humble. To make him realize he wasn't all powerful.

But the truth was that there were things even beyond Glossaryck. As powerful as he was, if the universe just up and ended Glossaryck would be gone.

There was a Parliament of beings with power similar to Glossaryck. Beings who some worshipped as gods, who could change things so drastically that you wouldn't believe it. His family worshipped one and was blessed by one.

And then there were the Architects, the beings who helped forge the universe at the start of things. Being that if they were to vanish the universe would likely collapse and end all things. They were forces, they were ideas, they were because they had to be.

Death and her family were for the most part considered a few of these architects. There was a passage in the spell about them. About how to communicate with them, to summon them, everything they knew about them and that they were to be treated with respect.

None of his ancestors ever broke that rule, as powerful as they were these beings were so much stronger. He wasn't even sure if any ancestor had ever dared to contact them.

He understood why, that one sentence had made him feel so small and like he was nothing.

An Ancient legend on Mewni stated there was a being draped in darkness but always followed by the light. One being that even Glossaryck mustered some respect for. One being that had made a powerful world bending warrior into their humble servant. A being who created an army of shades that brought the fallen souls to them. They would look different to people, to cultures but they were always the same.

Personally, his family had a story about this being. That when the queen died someone in the family would see a black cat with gold eyes. His grandmother swore to him once that during her mother's funeral she spotted a black cat with gold eyes sitting on a wall watching her. Those golden eyes giving her condolences.

"What?" Marco asked, not sure of what he was hearing.

"I'm sorry but you just died." The Regal woman in black told Marco.

"What?"

"You are so stuck in denial, its normal, it will pass like all things do. Take all the time you need."

Marco wondered if his mother would soon see the cat.

0000

The Manticore opened its maw to swallow Marco.

The others in such shock their mind's couldn't react.

"GET AWAY FROM HIM!" All except one, Skullnick rushed in and slammed her fist right into Tarea forcing him to drop Marco.

The Manticore slammed back into one of the crystals.

Skullnick caught Marco and laid in him down on the ground, she didn't look back at the others just walked towards the monster. "Get him to safety! Everyone get out of here!" Skullnick was furious that someone harmed her students.

Tarea blinked, "What? A troll? You don't smell like a troll?"

Skullnick wasn't having it, she hesitated when the attack started she wouldn't do so again, "Get away from my students!" She ran forwards grabbed him and started tossing around.

"…Marco?" Star regained her voice, tears filling her eyes, she pushed them aside, "Marco? Please get up. We have to go."

She found herself staring at his unmoving body.

"Marco!" Jackie rushed past her and moved towards Marco. "Come on! You've never given up before! Don't give up now!" She kneed next to him and started to perform CPR. She pressed her lips to his only pausing to do chest compressions.

Sabrina moved over to the side and started to take over with the chest compressions.

Jackie learned CPR at camp, she was the junior life guard for a summer. Sabrina just picked it up going to the hospital so often.

Many of the students surrounded them hoping for some sort of miracle. Janna snapped out of daze as she realized the wand might be able to help here. She picked it up and forced her way to the front and moved next to Marco and placed the wand in his hand.

A quiet horror struck her as the wand didn't change in his hand.

"Come on…," she whispered, "do something." Jann wrung her hand and worried.

For a fraction of a second she swore she saw the gem glow red but nothing else, she shrugged it off as hopeful thinking.

"…Marco…." A horrible thought struck her, would Marco be okay if she hadn't taken his wand?

0000

"I can't be dead!" Marco Panicked, "I'm too young! This has got to be a mistake!"

Death plucked one of the strings of violin, "Marco, you're thirty that's not exactly young for your species. 16 years with Hekapoo were well lived."

He looked at her, "You know about that?"

"Marco, I know a lot of things, plus I saw your life flash before your eyes." She smiled wistfully, "You had a good life. It wasn't perfect but no life should be, that is what makes it worth it."

"I didn't want it to end… not yet anyway."

"Most don't, and you had a lot of potential and a lot you could have done."

"Please, is there anything you can do?"

She shook her head, "Marco, I don't choose who dies I just merely help them move on."

"I'm not ready." Marco took a step back,

"That why you're here. Most people have some spiritual sense that their time is done and move on, they come to me with an understanding." She held out her hand, "They take my hand and I taken them to their next stage. But there are others, people scared or just not ready."

"I'm not ready! Please there has to be something I can do! There has to be something you need. I can get it for you."

"Sorry, no silver, no gold, my job is to claim your soul."

"So there is nothing."

"I didn't say that. Marco, I have existed as long as the universe, I've watched the birth of everything and I was there for their ends. I will be the last being in this universe when it finally ends. I will take all my family and loved ones before I can join them. I am endlessly patient, I don't care if you delay it. You all eventually end up with me."

"I can delay it?"

"Yeah, you can but it doesn't mean you should. There are plenty of powers that can bring someone back. I don't usually stop people from coming back. The only real reason you haven't moved on is because there is a faint connection to the mortal world, something tethering you."

She looked as the clouds that covered everything, they moved apart revealing a sliver of a red crescent moon.

"It was a weak bond, and it's barely keeping now. It will let you go soon."

Marco didn't understand or care, "So I have a link? I can stay."

"You can but should you? You're a smart boy, you know what happens to spirits that don't move on."

Marco shivered, "Ghosts? Souls that linger the world, unable to interact with the world, they break, the fade and they go insane. Eventually forget why they stayed. And they stay like that forever."

"It's not an existence you want."

He didn't like the idea of watching his loved ones age and die and still remain, eventually forgetting them.

"If you go willingly I can take you away and make sure that doesn't happen."

"Maybe someone can revive me. Maybe I don't have to go at all."

Death snapped her fingers and a swirling portal formed showing Marco the others trying to do that. "They are trying, but it won't work."

Marco watched as Jackie and Sabrina desperately tried to get his lungs working.

"It's beyond their power." Death told them, "You already partially dead."

"So I'm mostly dead? That means I'm partially alive?"

"Yeah, but any percentage of dead means your in my realm. It takes something special to undo that. No one around you has that power."

Marco touched the portal causing it to ripple.

"What about them?" Marco spoke after a long moment.

"They are in danger." Death told him the portal now showing Skullnick fiercely fighting Tarea, the troll holding open the manticore's jaw.

"Is there are anything I can do? Or are they going?—"

"I don't know, there is free will. They have their choices. I see their potential deaths. I was there watching ready to send my reapers to help Sabrina with the monster arm but at the last moment choices were made and that wasn't needed. They can give up and run away, or they can stay and lessen their survival chances."

Marco wrapped his arms around himself. "What's next?"

She smiled, "I can't say Marco."

Marco gave a tired sad chuckle, "I haven't been proud of everything I've done. I've had to do some awful things."

"I know." She placed an arm around his shoulder, "I was there."

"I guess I gotta answer for that."

"Maybe, but Marco the last act of your life was pushing yourself to your limits to try and save your friends. You gave up everything just to try and buy them a few seconds. I'm sure thats going to be counted."

"I never got to pay Hekapoo back, I never told my mom and dad about so much, Nachos… I promised I'd take her for a nice long ride.I promised Mina I'd be back…." Marco cried, "I never got say good bye."

"Would some music help?"

Marco sniffled, "What?"

"I know you like music, you used to play it for your spells."

"No, I didn't it."

The portal swirled again showing Marco in his room holding Tad Cooper. Around him a choir of women in flowing white robes float around him singing and music swirling around them.

Marco sang to his dragon spell, "Imagine the wonder that we'll inspire.~ When we are setting their heads on fire.~ Then we'll be even, my dragon pal and me~"

Marco slapped away at the image.

"Maybe you need to say good bye." Death spoke as she played her violin. A gentle almost playful tune filled the air.

"Good bye.~ Yes, its time to say good bye.~"

Marco twitched, "Are you singing?"

"Sad, I know, but hey, you're done with living.~"

"Do you often sign show tunes when people die?"

"Its time to give in and go and so, good bye."

With a wave of her hand women Ins white formed around them and started to dance to the music.

"That's my Muse spells?! How? I know I do use them for back up for music but-"

"Funny how the time did fly.~"

Marco looked at the spell, "I based them on my nurse maids." He chuckled, "She used to sign me to spell when mom couldn't I never got to say good bye to her."

"Really, it's a crime.~"

"I never said good bye to anyone."

"You're heading for forever.~"

"And now I won't…"

"To the great big whatever in the sky~!"

Marco looked on lost.

"Don't bother packing simply say, "Sayonara"~ 'Cause there ain't no tomorrow. Where you're going. Sure, we all feel for you~ But things got real for you.~ So why not make amends to all your family and friends?~"

As on cue the muses all dance and pointed to a hall and someone walked out.

Janna walked out, "Goodbye~"

"Janna?" Marco was confused, "Did you die too?"

"Sorry that I made you die~"

"What?"

Pony Head flew pass Marco, "Yeah, I'm here too, I'm not sure why."

"Me either, Seriously, who invited you?"

Tom popped up behind Marco, "Hold me because I'm going to cry.~"

"Please don't."

"My…"

"No."

"Pal!~"

"Good Bye~"

Marco turned around to find Hekapoo standing there.

"H-Poo?"

"Seems as though we just said hi." She smacked the back of his head.

Marco flinched, "Yeah, I guess in a way we kinda did."

"I'm just some random guy~!" A red haired guy with a goatee walked by playing a lute.

"Whose that guy? Seriously!"

"Good Bye!~" He felt Star wrap his arms around him in a hug.

Marco understood it as more familiar faces were lead out the halls by the muses and by the song. Death was letting him say good bye.

Marco started to cry, "Good bye…."

0000

Jackie and Sabrina both stopped, as something washed over them.

"…Marco…" Jackie trembled.

It wasn't working, it wasn't going to work.

They could practically feel him slipping away.

They were kids and they should never have been put into a situation where they'd have to watch a friend die.

They were silent which was quickly broken by the sound of Brittney sobbing. The realization hit the class hard. Star silently wrapped an arm around Brittney trying not to cry. Marco wouldn't want her to cry because of him.

It was hopeless.

"Baw!"

Yeah, that snapped them out of it but not as much as the sound of wing flapping and something landing besides them.

Dressed in a plain robe, a winged goat man stood there looking at the group and focusing on Marco.

"The angel death!" Britteny jumped over Marco, "You're not taking him!" She was desperately holding onto him.

"Lekmet?" Rhombulus looked over confused.

"Baw Ba baw!"

"Let him help! He can help Marco!"

The yellows eyes looked at Brittney, she looked on, "Can you help him?"

"Baw." He nodded.

Brittney pulled away, Lekmet shoved a back of groceries he'd been holding right into Sabrina's arms.

Lekmet clapped and held his hand over Marco, and light circled him pushing the others back.

0000

"Good bye~" They sang as Marco was lead up the stairs by Death.

As they reached the top the music came to an end.

Marco looked down to all his friends and family there smiling and waving him off.

It was silly, it was stupid but it was making him smile. It was Death's plan, to ease him and let him leave without regrets and with a smile.

He took a breath and turned to Death.

"Its time." Death spoke with a soft tone.

The doors behind her opened up revealing an endless hall of white light.

She held out her Hand towards Marco.

He was never king but he could die like one, with the dignity the role deserved. He looked back, "Good bye."

He held out his chest and took a step forwards, he hesitated even after everything he still didn't want to go. But it was the right thing to do he decided to take that hand.

He reached for her and his body was covered in light.

The doors slammed close.

"Is this normal?" Marco started to hover in mid air.

Death smirked, "Huh, it looks like that Old Goat found you in time." She shook her head, "Well, it looks like we have an appointment in Samara. Until next we meet Marco."

0000

"Aaaah!" Marco gasped as he tumbled to the ground.

"Baw!"

Marco looked up to find Lekmet standing there a few wrinkles forming.

"Bah?"

"I'm…. Fine?" Marco said unsure, he felt a twinge of power and he found his wand in his hand. The jewel on the wand faintly glowing red for a second.

"Marco!" Brittney grabbed him, her make up running. "I thought I lost you."

The rest of the girls grabbed him feeling the same relief.

Lekmet walked over to Rhombulus, and started to heal him.

The crystal man got up and mournfully looked at the new wrinkles, "You should't have done that we-"

Lekmet bopped him, "Bah."

The tearful reunion was cut short as Skullnick was tossed nearby. The Manticore walked closer and paused turning to Marco, "I killed you."

Marco got up and pulled himself from the others, his bangs making eyes dark. The wand started to glow.

"Dragon's fire!" Flames roared out of the wand striking the manticore.

It yelled falling backwards and rolled around putting out the flames on its fur.

"You-"

Marco was already leaping at him. "Thunder Hammer!"

Electricity jumped around the wand forming a hammer which quickly struck the manticore's face and knocked him to the side.

Tarea gasped as blood dripped from it maw, its jaw was dislodged, Marco walked towards him.

"Solaris Sword." A magical blade formed at the end of his wand.

Marco raised the wand intending to end this.

Tarea looked up at Marco and finally understood, understood the fear that his prey had felt before he finished them.

It struggled to fight, to run to do anything. Marco brought down the sword but found it striking crystal.

"There! Back in crystal," Nearby Rhombulus stood, he'd fired off the blast right before Marco's attack could connect.

"Marco you okay?" Rhombulus asked,

Marco shook his head, "Yeah, fine."

He looked at the captured Tarea now trapped in a state of terror.

"I'm good."

0000

They were all back on the bus heading back to the school. Everyone was emotional exhausted, Skullnick was just glad everyone was heading back safe and sound.

No one was going to complain about a field trip being too boring again.

They were almost back at the school and they were glad the day was done.

Janna looked over at Marco as he sat by the window, he was looking out at the streets as they passed by. She wanted to say something, but what could she say?

Her hand flinched as she remembered holding the wand. The guilt bubbling up.

Star looked over to Marco, "Marco? Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yeah, I'm just tired."

"Marco… you-"

"I didn't."

"Marco, I'm pretty sure you did."

"No, I was having this odd dream." Marco didn't turn to Star.

Star grabbed his arm, "It was just scary. I really thought I lost you. "

Marco placed his hand on hers, "I'm fine, don't worry I'm not going anywhere." Marco smiled at her.

"Promise?"

"Promise."

Marco smiled, he told himself it was just a dream. He was knocked out and Lekmet healed him, that it was just his mind coping with the fear.

The bus came to stop as they reached the school and Marco spotted Mina by the school gates waiting for him. Marco smiled as he felt some semblance of safety.

Mina was there petting a black cat with golden eyes, but as she saw Marco she waved at him. Marco paled as the cat just vanished.

Mina looked around confused. "Hey, where the kitty go?"

0000

Death tugged on the strings of the violin and it vanished. The air stirred as the dark clouds in Death's realm shifted revealing light.

Light in the form of a rainbow colored snake swirling in the air and slithering around Death.

Then suddenly the snake changed into a man with long messy hair and a colorful coat. Death's gold eyes met his diamond like eyes.

"So, the prince went back."

Death only said, "Yeah, but your Life so you would know he was back in your realm."

He shrugged playfully, "Sometimes you just need to say something out loud." He sighed, "He's going to regret that. He's going to wish that he took your hand."

"I know."

Life wrapped his arms around Death, he rested his head on hers.

"Speaking about saying things out loud: I love you." She found her hands playing with the ring on his hand, the one that matched hers.

"I love you too."

Both knowing that something far worse than that a crazy manticore was coming. The Darkness was coming soon.

0000

Rhombulus pushed up another the crystals that was knocked down. Nearby Lekmet was finishing putting away the groceries.

They both agreed not to tell the queen, there was no reason to upset her at her son's close call. He still wasn't sure how the crystal broke. He hadn't been paying attention had Marco set off a spell by mistake?

He'd been practicing spells to duplicate his power did he mess it up? At least Tarea was the only one to escape.

Then a terrible thought had struck him and he rushed into the crystals.

Finally he stoped at a large crystal holding a woman with marks on her cheek.

Rhombulus sighed in relief, "Phew, she's still here."

He walked away content.

He didn't notice since so many of the crystal prisons had been moved around during the right, but if he turned around he'd noticed several crystals missing all leading to Tarea.

0000

Several creatures gathered together in a forest, "Ladies, Gentlemen, and Other." He got up before them getting their attention. "I know this is a lot to take, a lot to take for all of us. Years have been stolen from us. The worlds we knew are gone or changed so much that they might as well have be. I will not stop you if any of you want to leave. But let me remind you, we all have a common enemy. Together we are stronger than all of them. Together we can destroy the Magical High Commission and bring end to the royal family of Mewni."

The lizard man walked in front of monsters and creatures and smiled. "But first let me introduce myself, I am known as Toffee."

* * *

 **Author's Notes: Yeah, there you go. A bit of an odd chapter. Okay, going to be honest the song comes from the show Galavant and that series was a big inspiration for this Prince Marco story so when I brought in death I just had to put in the song. I hope it works. Anyway, so yeah, Marco died and it will have affects moving on. Also the plot** if **really going to start taking off and yeah it's going to be different from what happened in the series. So leave a review telling me what you guys think.**


	17. Chapter 17: Pixtopia

**Marco Vs The Forces of Darkness**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Star vs the forces of evil.**

* * *

Chapter 17: Pixtopia

Marco looked forwards unsure of what to say.

"Marco?" Tom's voice shook him out, "You told me you wanted to talk in person."

Tom shuffled a little on Marco's bed. Marco seemed like he needed to talk and so he made his way to Earth.

"Look, if you changed your mind or need some time I'm here."

Marco shook his head before burying his face into his hands.

"Tom…. I can tell you anything, right?"

"Marco, we've been friends since we were both alive. We're more like brothers than anything."

Marco managed to smile. He found his hands running to his hair, they were alone. Glossaryck was out doing something for his parents, Star was in detention again, Nachos was happily taking a nap in the backyard.

"Tom… I died…."

"Okay, so when you're ready to talk and tell me the truth-"

"Tom!"

"Come on, you died? Marco, really?"

"I saw her!"

"Saw who?"

"Death! Lady Death! The Lady of Black. The Final shadow! The Night! The Golden Eye Black Cat! At first, I just thought it was an accident, that I dreamt it up but the black cat was there!"

Tom placed a hand on Marco's shoulder, "I don't know what happened. But if you died there would be signs on your soul and-" Tom's eyes glowed for an instant before his expression changed and he started to cry. "Marco! You died! I lost my brother!" Tom wept as he hugged Marco.

"I died but then Lekmet did a thing and there something about a link and-" Marco hugged Tom back as he started to cry too.

"Why is your soul such a mess?"

It had been a stressful few days. This was not something he felt he could talk to anyone else. Before he could even stop himself he started to spill his various secrets.

"Wow!" Tom's general reaction was. "So… you really died? You aged 16 years in Hekapoo's dimension. You earned your scissors. You went through mewberty. You got that crazy crystal spell to work. And did I miss anything else?"

"I have a dragon-cycle now, I call her Nachos."

"Huh, so what you and Hekapoo?"

"Tom! We are not going into that."

"I mean, I guess, it's a surprise for so many reasons. I mean, you usually like girls with nice legs and-"

"She's got some very nice legs under that puffy skirt of hers."

Tom smirked, "You dog!"

"Tom!"

"I got it, so what's the deal between you two? I get 16 years and things happened and what happened in her dimension stays in her dimension"

"Tom, no, we aren't talking about that. If My mom ever found out I might lose the throne and who knows what she'd do to H-Poo."

"H-Poo?" Tom chuckled but caught himself, "Got it, I'll keep it a secret. But so much has happened to you. I thought you'd freak out on Earth or something. Rumor in the Underworld is that there is some giant ancient dragon warrior slumbering on Earth hoarding a treasure."

"No, Nachos is probably the only dragon on Earth people just think they're stories. Not sure why."

"Marco," Tom sighed, "I know this is a lot but I wanted to say that I'm glad you felt like you can talk to me about this. I don't know how much I can help but I'm here for you man. I really mean it."

"If I can't count on my brother who can I count on?"

The boys shared a smile, Marco was still mentally freaking out about the truth that he did die but he felt better about talking to Tom.

"So what are you going to do now?" Tom asked him.

"What can I do?" Marco shook his head clear, "I died, you verified it. I gotta get used to it." The prince sighed, "I had to say goodbye, you where there, my parents, my friends, even Pony head was there and- and I was ready to go and leave everyone behind. "

"Yeah, that is pretty heavy." Tom looked at him, "I don't know if any of this helps but you are here. And I think I speak for everyone when I say I'm glad your still here. Maybe you just have to accept it happened and keep going."

It wasn't much but Marco did feel better with those words.

Then there was a knock on the door, "Marco?"

Marco knew that voice, "Mom?"

"Can we come in?"

"Yeah, sure."

The queen opened up the door and was followed by her husband.

"Oh! Hello Tom." Angie greeted.

"Queen Diaz, it's a pleasure to see you again." Tom gave a small bow.

"Mom? Dad?" Marco asked.

"We have some news." Angie gave a slightly forced smile.

Tom held his tongue and only watched when parents said they had news it was rarely good and that was double when they ran a country.

"Is it good news?" Marco asked.

"It's news," Rafael told him.

Marco could tell that this was going to be a strange conversation.

Queen Angie paused for a moment trying to decide her words carefully, "Marco, remember a while back we had a conversation. As prince you are expected marry someone proper of your status."

Marco blinked, "Yeah, I think I remember."

It was an awkward chat, Marco didn't have a lot of luck with girls at the royal balls or dances.

Some of his other relatives were … not as optimistic about him and hearing that he might find it difficult to marry worried them. Some were suggesting to marry him off purely for a royal alliance, but his family had was decided to follow their heart in the end. His parent believed that creed more than other, they meet young and fell in love and were still as in love. They hoped that Marco would find love. So, in the end, they had called the Royal Match Maker.

The Match Maker Carina dealt with royal families looking for a match, she was responsible for many lasting royal relationships.

Still, she didn't have much luck with Marco. Most girls weren't interested in a prince whose people tended to mock him.

"Well," Angie told him, "Carina contacted us today and let us know there is a someone interested in meeting up with you."

"You know," Rafael added, "to see if you two hit it off."

Marco blinked surprised, he had honestly thought no one would be interested.

"Uh, who is, ah, you know, interested in me?"

"The Pixie Empress," Angie told him.

"The Pixie Empress?" Marco was more than a little surprised.

"She does have nice long legs, that is your type," Tom spoke out loud.

"Yes, I think Carina takes that sort of thing into account," Rafael added.

Marco's eyes twitched as that was brought up yet again.

Angie sighed, "Marco, I know this is all a bit strange and I know a lot of things are expected from you so I am not going to force you into anything."

Marco blinked as he sat in silence, "I'll do it. I guess it can't be too bad, right? Just have dinner talk and see If we click, right?"

0000

The following Friday Marco was in his room getting dressed.

"I almost got your hair." Tom fussed with Marco's hair. "Why is your hair so unruly?"

Marco looked into his mirror as he looked himself up and down dressed in his princely clothes. It had been a while since he'd been in this outfit or even been on Earth without makeup on his cheek marks.

Tom pulled out a lint roller and rolled over Marco's outfit. Tom looked him over pride in his eyes.

Marco sighed, "Don't look at me like that."

"Like how?"

"Like your proud that you even got a date."

"I kinda am."

Marco shook his head, "You don't need to make such a big deal."

"I just want this all to go well."

"Yeah so do I."

"Okay, so let's talk tips. Like, pull out the chair for her. Make sure to compliment her, don't focus on her looks, compliment things she can control. Maybe, her hairstyle."

"Believe me, I do know a little bit about this. I learned some stuff from Hekapoo."

"Oh! So you guys were that close? "

Marco shook his head.

"Your good, or as good as you're going to get tonight," Tom told him patting the back of his back.

0000

Star was waiting with everyone else in the living room. She was so excited that Marco was getting a date, with an Empress of all people.

Tom rushed down the stairs, "He's ready."

Tom pulled out a small device and played a soothing song Star was sure she heard in a cheesy romantic movie from the 90's.

"Don't make such a big deal." Marco walked down the stairs, he was dress in his formal royal outfit and his cheek mars looked extra nice that day. His hair was done up and he was even wearing his crown.

"Wow, Marco!" Star let out, "You look great."

Star looked over to see Marco's parents sparkling in glee. "Mijito, you are growing up."

Tom coughed, it sounded to Star that he said, "If you only knew."

Angie smiled, "Okay, so just be nice and try and have a good time. Mina will take you to Pixtopia and bring you back, she will also be nearby in case you need anything."

Mina was standing by the door wearing her formal uniform and salute, "Yes, your majesty. Your son's virtue will remain intact, or whatever condition it's in now."

Angie raised an eyebrow at the weird phrasing but didn't make much of it.

Mina held open the door to reveal the chariot waiting outside.

"Have fun, Marco." Star waved at them.

"I'll try," Marco said nervously as he walked outside.

They all looked through the window as Mina created a portal and drove through it.

Rafael and Angie looked at the window longer than anyone else.

Moon cleared her throat, "If you'd like to wait for Marco, you're welcome to stay. I can make some tea if you'd like."

Angie smiled, "Thank you."

0000

It didn't Marco long for Mina to escort him to Pixtopia or the Pixie Empress castle.

One of the Pixie guards announced Marco's arrival, "Your Majesty, introducing Prince Marco Ubaldo Diaz heir to Mewni."

The Pixie Empress was sitting on her throne and smiled, she waved and said, "That will be all, I wish to be alone."

The Guards and Mewni bowed, Mina paused to whisper at Marco, "I'll be close by if you need anything."

The knights left the room leaving them alone in the large throne room.

"Ah, hello, your Majesty-"

"Come on Marco, no need to be so formal. You can just call me Sugar Wings."

"Oh, okay, Sugar."

The Empress flew towards him, she was blue and about the size of his hand. Marco wasn't sure how to look at her, was it rude to look down at her or how did this work.

"Oh, right sorry, it's a little awkward for a date." Her wings glowed brightly and in a flash of golden dust, she grew to be a little taller than him. She took his hand and said, "Is this better?"

"Uh," Marco gulped trying not to look at her very lovely long legs, "Yeah,"

0000

Star was bored, Tom headed home quickly and the parents were talking downstairs. Star decided to call her friends but wondered how they might take the news of Marco being on a royal date.

She decided to talk to Pony head so she snuck into his room. "Mirror Mirror on the wall, call Pony Head."

After a moment the Princess picked up, "Hey B-Fly! How's it going?"

"Oh, just a bit bored. Decided to check in and see what is happening. Marco is on a date so not a lot -"

"Marco's on a date?!" Pony Head yelled, "Whaaaaat?! I- I just can't. Like, who would even ask him out? Did he ask her out? I mean, he doesn't have the guts. Did his mom say yes to it? Like, give me the details!"

"Well, it's apparently some royal matchmaker that Marco's parents hired. They matched him up with the Pixie Empress."

"Pixie Empress?!" Pony Head yelled again.

"Yeah, exciting, right?"

"No, No no! You don't get it B-fly! Pixies eat their husbands! They're like black widows! If things go well Marco is going to be on the menu!"

Star paled, "No….I mean, they wouldn't do that, right?"

"Yeah, they would."

"No! I gotta warn Marco! I gotta save him!" Star pulled out the scissors Hekapoo had made for her.

0000

"You're worried?" Moon asked.

"A little," Angie confirmed.

"I wouldn't worry, Marco seemed a tad nervous but he's a resourceful and smart boy."

"That's not what I'm worried about," Angie confessed. She and Rafael looked at each other before the Queen spoke up, "It's about Star."

0000

The portal opened up on Pixtopia and Star ran towards the castle as fast as she could. She knew she had to save Marco.

"Hello, how can I help you?" Star barely crossed into the castle where a receptionist greeted her.

"Uh, Hi."

"Hello."

"I need to see the Empress and Prince Marco."

The Pixie smiled, "I'm sorry the Empress has given us all strict orders not disturb her evening with the prince. I believe they are actually about to start the meal."

Star panicked hearing that, "I'm coming Marco!"

Star rushed as quickly as she could, the pixie just hit a button under her desk and a trap door opened beneath Star's feet.

0000

Marco found himself at dinner with the Empress, they had a nice dinner with candles waiting for them.

"You have a strange aura." Empress Sugar remarked.

"Excuse me?"

"I'm sorry," Sugar told him, "yes, its part of my magic. You mewmans aren't the only ones with magic. One of my skills is the ability to read auras. It can be very helpful for getting to know someone."

"Oh,"

"Don't worry it doesn't tell me everything?" She picked at her salad, "It just gives me a general idea."

"What does it tell you about me?"

"Your warm and someone I'd like to know more about. So, let's just chat a bit. I'll let you start. Ask me anything?"

"Uh, okay, so what's it like being an empress?"

"That's a story, It started during the last great Pixie war."

0000

"This is all some mistake," Star assured the guard who gave her a pickaxe and pushed her deeper into the cave.

"Yeah, no, you tried to break into the castle and now you're going to work off your time in the crystal mines."

"I'm friends with Prince Marco, I have to give him a message."

The pixie guard snorted, "Yeah, and I'm the Curator or secrets! Get to work."

Star had enough she pulled her scissors but she wasn't able to make a portal.

The guard snorted again, "Yeah, this is a prison you don't think we have one of those portal sapping crystals here to keep people from breaking out?"

"I guess I didn't," Star admitted before being shoved with some more prisoners.

0000

"What about Star?" River asked.

Rafael answered, "She's so open and confident."

Angie shook her head, "Marco was picked on as a child. We always had to step in and protect him. But it caused him to become withdrawn to others. It made it hard for him to make friends. He started to depend on us too much. Now he even needs us to arrange his dates."

Rafael looked at his teacup, "Then we see Star, so bright and happy. We can't help but wonder if we did something wrong. If by trying to protect him that we actually hurt him."

0000

"And the city burned behind me, there remains little more than ash." The Empress spoke up, " I found the crown at my feet and placed it on my head. As I did the crowd cheered and thus my reign began."

Marco leaned in as he was erupted by her story.

0000

Mina had started a conversation with the guards, they had to wait there and they had to come up with something to do.

The Royal Pixie Guard explained, "No, you have to add the spices as it cooks. The flavors get mixed in better as you go."

"Okay," Mina nodded, "but can I use something else besides mandrake root?"

0000

River assured them, "You are overreacting. Star is very confident but that has gotten her in a lot of trouble."

Moon shook her head, "Outside of that Janna girl, I think Star has the record for the most detentions. Star is wonderful but unfocused and has a hard time admitting when she needs help."

"Being busy at work," River explained, "we tended to hand off parents. We thought that was good, let her be self reliant and independent. Star learned for herself but sometimes I wonder if we were there enough for her. As she grows older I sense it more, a distance between us. She's always doing her own thing and it's hard to know what she's doing."

0000

"They're cute." Sugar smiled seeing Marco's wings, "I'm sure they'll grow wonderfully. If I might give you a bit of advice, practice shoulder rolls. When you start flying you will find it so hard at first just because you don't practice with those muscles."

"Thanks for the advice." Marco smiled.

One of the chefs rolled in a cart, "Desserts are coming. I hope you have sweet tooth."

"I think I might," Marco spoke eagerly,

0000

Glossaryck moved so cups around with magic, the tea pouring out into the cups. "Raising kids is hard. As hard as you try they don't come out like you want them to."

"Glossy," Angie held out her hand, "I respect you but the High Commission barely tolerates you. I'm not taking parental advice from you."

Glossaryck shrugged, "Yeah, okay," he took a cookie.

Moon leaned back, "I suppose he doesn't make a point. Royalty or not, parents try to do their best and we can only hope we did well enough. For what it's worth, Marco is a fine young man with a good heart."

Angie smiled, "Star is very sweet and so very kind."

River smiled, "Maybe we aren't perfect but I think we did all right."

Rafael let out a chuckle, "I mean, they are good kids."

0000

"Aaaaaah!" Star yelled as she swung her pickaxe around wildly. "Freeedoom!"

Star was trying to fight off the guards.

"Charge!" The guards let out battle cry rushing Star.

"Huh?" Star realized something, "You're all really small." She just started to swat them away with little effort.

The pixies realized the same thing and started to flee.

"Okay, that was a lot easier than I thought it would be. Okay, gotta get out of here then."

Nearby Star spotted a mining cart and ran towards, "Has this thing always been here?"

Star found it easy to control and ride, "Why did no one take this?!"

0000

Marco asked something that came to mind, "Why did you pick me? I mean, it been a while and no one done anything with me … I don't know request with the matchmaker. I'm just saying I've been with her for a long time and no one has shown any interest. So, why did you as to meet me?"

The Empress placed his hand in hers and pulled him along, "Let me show you something."

She walked him over to a stain glass window at the far end of the throne room. Marco wasn't surprised by the glass stained windows, they were fairly common for royals. They were decorations depicting stories and legends of the kingdom's history. Some of them had depictions of fierce battles and wonderful discoveries.

Marco's eyes went wide as he came to a window with the image of a black cat with gold star like eyes chasing a rainbow snake who in turned chased it.

"Most of the empire worships Death and Life." Sugar Wings continued, "I think it comes from our history of warriors clans, we had to kill to survive. Every day was a battle just to survive, we worshipped the one thing we all knew we could never beat. I'm not going to lie that we were very viscous but over time we began to understand other things as well, the gift that was life. And after that, we started to understand that it requires a balance. Too Much death and life wither away and too much life it suffocates itself." The Empress turned to Marco, "But you know they are much more than mere ideas… You've been touch by Lady Death, you've been in her presence."

Marco took a step back unsure of what to make of it.

"I am a follower of Lady Death it would be very shameful if I couldn't sense that with all my abilities. Then again, we do have something in common so that made it easier to sense."

"What do you mean?"

"We've both taken lives before." She whispered as her hand stroked the outline of his face.

0000

"You guys don't know when to give up." Star's cart rolled through the mines but was soon joined by another one filled with guards.

One of the guards grabbed a random shard of crystal and threw it on the track before her. Before she could even react the cart flipped into the air. In a panic, Star grabbed the ends hoping to keep it from falling on her.

And it just jumped right back on the tracks like nothing, "Huh? Okay, that was just lucky."

One of the guards pulled out a whip and started using for the attack.

Star dodge it as best she could but she had limited space, finally, she used the pickaxe to block it. The whip wrapped around the pickaxe and Star pulled against it to try and keep them from getting it. "Look where you're going!" Star yelled out.

"You look where you're-" The Pixie Guards didn't finish that thought as the track they were on wasn't finished and they fell down into the pit.

Star just let the pickaxe and whip drop.

"Wow, this was all super easy." Star mused to herself as she kept on rolling. "The security here sucks!"

0000

"Ah-what do you mean?" Marco hesitated.

"Don't take it the wrong way," The Empress continued, "few people understand what it means to be a follower of death, most think it means to relish in the killing but it means understanding what death means. It's a necessity if you take a life only because you have to. I see it in your eyes, knowing you've taken a life and hating the act but knowing that had to be done."

Her voice was soft, "You know how I got the crown, I won't make you tell me what happened just know that you can tell me."

Marco found himself looking into her eyes, he was unsure of what he was feeling. He had talked to Tom about it to some extent, but he was afraid that he wouldn't understand. As he stood there in silence he felt like she would understand.

That was something that Marco had lacked for most of his life, someone that understood him.

"It started during Hekapoo's trial…" Marco began to talk, to tell the story of his trial.

He didn't know how long he'd been talking before he'd reached the story about the battle.

"I don't know," Marco started, "I see them sometimes in my nightmares, bodies piled upon bodies. And it seems like too many to ever count. I don't even know what to call them, the monster seems to kind of words for them. They enjoyed pain and suffering, by the time I reach the battle they spent days torturing everyone to death."

Marco felt his body shaking at the memory, "I was just too late. I was so angry. At everything, they had done. I didn't think, they attacked me before I could do anything. I fought them for days, I didn't sleep, I didn't rest, I didn't eat, I just had to fight. And I was loosing, I was outmatched, they were so much more powerful than I was. They were just toying with me, I had to try and hide amongst the corpses just to try and catch my breath but they wouldn't let me."

Silences filled every corner of the throne room, The Empress just stood there quietly listing to him.

"I thought I was going to die. I have almost died before, but this was different I just knew I was going to die. Then a thought struck me, why did I have to die and these things continued to live?" How many more times would they kill before they were stopped? I didn't want to die, not like that. I just remember being so angry and so scared. Why did I have to be so weak and such a failure? I couldn't even finish the trial…"

Marco's voice felt dry, "I don't know what happened…. I just felt… I just felt so much…. and a light was covering me…. then I just felt heat…" Marco blinked, "I killed them all… I burned them all into ash….I'd hunted before but…but I never killed… I never killed anything that could think and feel… those things were horrible but…"

"But they were alive." The Pixie Empress spoke, "As evil as they were, the act of taking a sentient life…feeling guilt for it mean even if that life is as twisted as that… it means you still care about life."

The Pixie Empress looked at the stained glass again, "Death springs from life and life springs from death. As warriors you have to remember: a warrior doesn't enjoy killing. A warrior doesn't relish the killing stroke, to do that was to lose yourself to bloodlust and to lose yourself. That a warrior fights to protect, their home, their people, themselves, and only to kill when there is no other way."

Marco looked up at the glass, and in the moonlight, it looked like it glowed. Marco felt warm tears streak down his cheek.

Hekapoo knew what happened, she found himself after it ended and eventually got him to talk. She told him much the same thing, how if he hadn't done so he would have died and many others would follow.

Rationally Marco understood that rationally it all made sense. Still, he felt horrible that he took a life, that he took a life while filled with so much rage. He was scared that amongst all the other feelings he good to have killed.

0000

Mina was having tea with the other guard, they got bored and just started talking and tired of standing or flying they sat on the floor.

"I think you should pursue it." The Pixie Guard told her, "You only live once, and you've served honestly and faithfully for the crown. You served for two lifetimes! I know I might be speaking against the best interested of my empire but politics shouldn't get in the way of love."

"I don't know about that." Mina looked deeply into her tea.

"From what you told me he does seem interested in you. You will regret it in the long run if you don't even try."

Mina pouted, she hated how much this whole reminded her of those trashy romance novel she liked ready.

"Aaaah!"

A trap door opened up before them and outshot out a mining with Star. Star tumbled and tried to make her way to the door.

The Pixie Guard raised his blade, Mina called him off, "She's the friend of the prince."

"Marco is in danger."Star rushed to pass the knight and pushed open the door.

Star was surprised to find the Pixie Empress hugging Marco and him hugging her back.

"Ah," Mina spoke up, "are we interrupting something?"

The royal pair pulled away.

Sugar chuckled, "I don't think so, I think we should wrap things up here. It seems like things got pretty serious at the end."

Marco scratched the back of his head, "Yeah, I guess they did. Thank you, I think I needed to talk to someone."

The empress was about to reply when Star jumped in between them. "Marco step back! She's going to try and eat you?"

"What?" Marco questioned that.

Sugar scoffed, "Oh that! It's a nasty bit of our history that other royal families spread. I mean, yeah, eating someone and marrying them is practically synonyms for us. Eating someone was to join with them. And when we wed we are meant to consume them." She turned to Marco, "Not literally, something like that could cause a war between kingdoms," Focusing on Marco, "besides if we do get married there are much more humane and enjoyable ways I could consume a bit of you."

Marco's face turned bright red, "Ah, well, I'd like to talk to you some more. Get to know you if you'd be interested."

Sugar giggled, "How could I not be interested in someone so cute."

Before Marco could even stutter he found the Empress plant a kiss on his cheek.

"Maybe next time you can kiss me back." She purred into his ear.

Mina cleared her throat getting Marco's attention, Marco looked over to find Star blush a little.

Mina said, "We better head out, you're parents will want to hear how this goes."

Marco was pulled out as Sugar waved him goodbye.

As they left The Empress shrugged as she shifted back into her smaller form.

The guard asked, "So the date went well, my highness?"

She smiled to herself, "Better than I could imagine, he's cute, he's got a warriors heart and someone I think I can connect with." She bit her lip, "Plus there is this touch darkness to him that makes him even more interesting. Men are so much more interesting when they have a bit of a nasty strike."

0000

Star climbed into the chariot with Marco, Marco was only looking at the castle.

Star could only look at Marco. She felt like an idiot for coming out to save Marco when he was perfectly safe the whole time.

She also felt something else, she looked at Marco and started to notice something, a distance that had started to grow between them. Star feared that soon that distance would grow.

Marco thought about what he spoke with Sugar, about life and death. There was horrible feeling deep inside him, he wondered if the guilt would ever leave him. He wondered if it should ever leave him. He was afraid if it did he would end like those things he killed.

He understood that death wasn't a punishment or something to be fear, it was the next part of the cycle but he feared what role he would play in it. He wanted to protect those he cared about but far was he willing to go. Could he live with more guilt? Or would he start to cast it away?

* * *

 **Author's Notes: Okay, hi, sorry for the late update. Been busy. And I really only had time to finish this up today because I'm sick. I think a bit of food poisoning. Make me feel better by leaving a review. Also shout out for** lattelawyer **, I really liked your well thought review. Anyway, I'm going to try and get some medicine. Bye.**


	18. Chapter 18: Axolotlmas

**Marco Vs The Forces of Darkness**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Star vs. the forces of evil.**

* * *

Chapter 18: Axolotlmas

Star cut a portal open to Mewni Castle, she stepped out followed by Jackie, Sabrina, Janna, and Brittney. They all had some form of overnight bags, they had been invited to spend the weekend at Mewni. There was a huge holiday there, and the royal family had a big part to play in it, and Angie didn't hesitate to invite Marco's friends.

"Hiya!" Mina greeted them, "Marco asked me to stay behind and transport you."

"Transport us?" Jackie asked, "I thought the festival was happening here."

"On Mewni yes, in this kingdom no," Mina explained, "we're going to the Diaz kingdom."

"I thought this was the Diaz Kingdom."

"Yeah, that's a bit of a long story. I'll tell you on the way."

0000

They climbed aboard a carriage, and they headed out.

"I'm guessing Marco hasn't told you all the details. A lot of is pretty boring stuff." Mina huffed as she sent the carriage on its way. "So, you know Marco's parents were royal borns."

"Yeah," Star nodded.

"Well, Marco's mom and Marco's dad met years ago during the Silver Bell Ball."

"Yeah, I think Marco mentioned it before." Star scratched her head, "It's some royal dance, every year all the princess and princess gather to dance, it's supposed to be a thing to make all the kingdoms friendly with each other."

"Pffft," Mina snorted, "that's about it. I always found that thing boring."

"Oh, right, " Sabrina realized, "you got sent from the past, you were there when Marco's mom was a teen."

"Yeah, I was her guard. So, I was one of the guards posted to make sure no one tried to attack." Mina continued, "Well, I think it was before I was there. The story goes that at their first dance Angie and Rafael locked eyes at each other and that was it. From that moment on, they were in love, and they knew it. From then on they always picked each other for their first dance." Mina smirked, "I remember when Angie went through Mewberty, Rafael was a kingdom away, and she went nuts trying to get to him. We had to lock her in the dungeon to keep her from rampaging. Eventually, Rafael showed up, and she calmed down."

Mina sighed, "Yeah, I wasn't there from the rest of the story. I've heard stuff though, they were so in love that no one was surprised when they got engaged. Their kingdoms being next door didn't help, they haven't had the best history. Being neighbors means they just argue more, like who owns what land."

Sabrina spoke up, "But Marco's parents getting together, so that had to settle things, right?"

Mina snorted, "No! Their families were ready to go to war with each other. Literally! Then they both threatened to abdicate their thrones, the issues that would have followed scared their families. Their parents did come around seeing how happy they were. And it made sense unifying their two kingdoms. There was a whole mess of land between the kingdoms that they've started to settle."

Mina pointed towards the distance were a few settlers were starting to pop up.

"Yeah, they haven't worked out all the issues, they have knights doing patrols to keep them safe from monster attacks. More room to grow more crops for the growing kingdoms."

They had set up an excellent system, it was a lot like the homestead act families could claim the land if they tended to it. Usually also growing crops or such things. It was a pretty good deal, having land that big thing and helped people get incomes.

Brittney basically brought it down, "So, you're saying Marco is the heir for two kingdoms?"

"Well, yeah, they're trying to merge them into one. They're kinda thinking of putting a new castle in the middle."

"So, he'd have three castles?!" Brittney yelled.

"Yeah, I guess, not sure about the details. People are arguing about tradition and where he should rule. " She shook her head, "Royal problems, huh?"

Brittney had stopped paying attention as she thought about living in three separate castles.

Jackie decided to ask, "So, what's the deal with this holiday? Marco tried to explain it to me, but I'm not sure I followed."

"Axolotlmas?"

"Yeah," Jackie nodded her head, she knew she wouldn't be able to pronounce that.

"It's apart of the founding the founding of Mewni." Mina cleared her throat, "So, a very veeeery long time ago. The early settlers to Mewni came to this land only to get caught in a terrible snow storm. They took shelter in the shadow of a stump, they started to lose hope as they ran out of supplies and started to get on each other's nerves. The settler huddled together by the stump to survive. As the storm finally passed the settlers carved their names into the stump as a reminder of what they endured and how they could overcome anything together. The next harvest they had a functional settlement, and they had a huge party to celebrate. It is said that at that point the Stump came to life."

"So like Frosty the Snowman?" Janna asked.

"Did Frosty then try to eat people?"

"No, I don't think he did."

"So no, nothing like that. It turns out that the Stump was alive and angry at people. It wanted to be the sole focus of the celebration. It wanted to be worshipped and adored. Marco's ancestors tried to defend people but yeah that stump was crazy. Things got worse some of the settler groups had different settlements and weren't getting along already, they had just gotten together to celebrate. There was just a lot of infighting, and that wasn't helping them get together to fight the stump. Yeah, they were loosing and bad."

"Okay," Sabrina asked, "but this turns out good right? I mean, I'm guessing the settlers made the kingdoms."

"Yeah, one of the Settlements was what turned into the Diaz Kingdom, and another one became the Mewni Kingdom."

"Okay, so evil magic stump, what happened next?" Star asked.

"Well, a miracle. The cries of the people and maybe a bit of the magic from the wand got the attention of someone. They got the attention of Axolotl, the one who lives between time and space. Axolotl has a gift with bridging things, bringing opposites and being a peacekeeper. Axolotl came down and guided the settlers and protected them, helping the wand user to call down fire to burn away the stump. In all honesty, not sure why they didn't try that in the first place."

Mina shook the thought clear, "Well, they burned the stump to ashes and decided to mark the day to celebrate Axolotl. When they asked him what he wanted for the day Axolotl just said, he wanted a day of peace a day where people would be kind to each other. A day where people try to be better. A day celebrate and share with one another." Mina sighed, "Yeah, let's see if they can manage it for this holiday."

0000

This new kingdom was vibrant with colorful decorations, everything was so lively, people were bustling around enjoying the day and celebrating.

It wasn't too long until the group found themselves at another castle.

They arrived to find Marco and his parents in a throne room.

"Marco!" Star yelled out as she raced to pass a line of servants. She went to hug him one of the guards grabbed her mid-air.

"Put her down!" Mina told them, " She's the guest of the prince."

The guard glanced over to the royals who gave him a nod.

"Hi guys." Marco greeted the group. "I''m glad to see that you've made it. Manfred! Can you show them to their rooms!"

The servants walked over ready to show them the way.

Star looked at Marco and asked, "Okay, and then we can hang out?"

"I'll try," Marco suggested, "I think maybe I'll be free in time for the evening stuff. Maybe around dinner," Marco looked at the long line of servants waiting for them, "It's just that this event is big and we gotta handle everything and make sure it goes well. "

Manfred led them to their rooms, to their surprise they were each getting their own spacious rooms. They settled in and waited until Mina returned for them. She gathered them up in Star's guest room.

"Okay, so I talked to Marco, and it doesn't look like he will be getting free anytime soon." Mina clicked her tongue, "So, yeah, I'm going to show you around."

0000

They headed out into the town square and … well, yeah Mina had no idea where anything was. She was a local of the other kingdom and years had passed since the last time she had been in this kingdom.

But a great man once said, "You can't read the guidebook, you've got to throw yourself in! Eat the food, use the wrong verbs, get charged double and end up kissing a complete stranger."

So yeah, just throw yourself into it and hope you don't end up in jail.

So the group was wandering around seeing what there was to see.

Several local children were taking part in a huge puppet show, they held up a massive puppet of a giant salamander fighting a stump fighting it with its roots. There were also plenty of people walking around in period costumes and pretty realistic monster costumes.

Star even found a cute little plush doll of the big salamander, and she bought it. Janna was pretty sure they did rip her off.

They did a lot of shopping looking for a souvenir and tasting some of the food.

"Hey," Jackie asked, "that's a portrait of Marco and his family, right?"

At the town square center, there was a portrait of Marco standing next to his parents amongst other people.

"Yeah," Mina confirmed, "its the Royal Portrait. Yeah, I think it as like 12 generations back. Every few years they update it with whose still kicking in the family. Yeah, The Diaz Clan is big on arts, Axolotl took a liking to the Diaz to them a while back when gave them a blessing."

"Blessing?" Janna took a turn to ask a question.

"Yeah, that's kinda a big deal. They fought off some threat and helped Axolotl, and in turn, he blessed the Diaz name. It's one of the reasons why Angie changed her name, she wanted that blessing to pass onto her kids. I'm not big on the details, each member of the family get some sort of gift and a bit of luck. The Diaz Clan has a pretty good run with the kingdom and battles since then, so things have been pretty peaceful on their end. So, they turned to arts and promoted the stuff. The portrait is one of them. If pretty pictures are your thing, then they have placed all over devoted to art."

Sabrina looked on the city was pretty decorated, and she noticed something, there was art of the family all over including Marco but no hint that anyone was making fun of him.

"It looks like Marco is liked here." The Accident prone girl pointed out.

"Yeah," Mina grinned, "the head son usually takes over in this kingdom, so there is little issue with Marco here. The only issues are that since Rafael spends a lot of time in Mewni - you know it being a hot seat for power-he leaves his mom in charge of a lot of stuff. Still, people like the old bag, so it's all good."

"Mina!" A bunch of knights rushed over to them. "Mina!"

"That's my name," Mina merely blinked at the group of knights.

"Thank goodness we found you." The knight, Sir Stabby, pulled her as to keep things from being overhead by the crowds. "We need your aid a band of monsters is rushing towards some nearby settlements. We've gotten word from scouts that these monsters are far stronger than normal monsters."

"Wait, what?" Mina asked, "Its tradition all over this dimension that no one does anything like that today unless the Stump Return."

Throughout out the dimension, they feared the stump would one day return when someone so foolish let their negative emotions control them. After all the Stump seemed to be awakened by such actions.

"Yes, which is why we have to put down this as quickly as possible."

Mina scratched her head, "But I'm under royal orders to show Prince Marco's guest around."

"Oh! I can show them around." One of the knight's squires raised a hand.

The knight thought this over, "Hm, maybe this would be for the best. Such a fight might be a little too much for squires. Mina if you have no issues with her filling in for you until we get back."

"Okay. Take care of them, kid." Mina said as the rest of the knights ran off.

The group looked over the teen girl, she had short red hair and freckles and wore a blue tunic and long boots.

"So, the names Higgs, I'll be showing you around."

0000

Marco parents helped him finish with the line and went off to take care of other things. Marco still had a mess of work to do, the one advantage he had was that in this kingdom people actually listened to him. Again, help was needed, and he called for it.

Pony Head and Tom rushed over to help him pull through. Arranging events of this size took a massive amount of effort.

"Thanks for all the help." Marco looked through paperwork.

"No problem," Tom read over the reports, "Yeah, these are a pain so expect that I'll call you to help me out."

"Yeah, you owe us big time." Pony Head flipped through papers, "You are just ultra lucky that I shine in these sorts of things. So I'll help you out with your silly stump party."

Marco rolled his eyes, "The Stump is real."

"Yeah, sure it is," Tom mumbled.

"It is!" Marco assured them.

"Whatever." Pony Head rolled her eyes, "Let's get this over with. You said B-Fly was here too, right?"

"Yeah, Mina is showing them around."

"Yeah your crush is walking around with your gaggle of girls," Pony Head said in a tone that confused Marco.

Tom snickered.

"What do you mean?" Marco asked.

"Me? Nothing just let's hurry up and go meet them."

Star might have mentioned a thing to, or two to Pony Head, which she found endlessly entertaining. She was eager to see how that whole situation would turn out. Plus this holiday had all sorts of funny little traditions that could make things more interesting.

Marco sighed as he looked over a report.

"Something the matter?" Tom asked him.

"There is a monster attack happening. The Knights have already been dispatched."

"Weird," Pony Head noticed, "monsters are as freaked as you about the Stump."

"Not that I can blame them though, they hate this holiday." Marco sighed.

In the last few years, it had gotten a lot more noticed especially from the youth, that the land they lived on had once been the home to the monsters. This holiday often represented the loss the monster felt, and Marco really couldn't blame them if the mewmans had been in that position they would do the same.

The Diaz were better with other species than Angie's family had been. Angie being the sweet woman she was far more tolerant too, part of the reason they got along so well with the Lucitors and Pony Heads even if the rest of Angie's family was not as kind. Marco wanted to find a way to end the fighting between the different species, it had been something he'd talked to Hekapoo a lot. Living in another dimension for 16 years and living amongst several different species really clarified the need for him to fix things on Mewni.

It was a huge task that he wasn't even sure how he'd start.

"I wish there was just a way to make friends with them."

Tom and Pony Head shared a look, they knew Marco's goals, and they didn't have anything against it. It was just one they didn't know if he could manage. Marco would instead make friends than enemies.

0000

The Knights traveled fast and met the monster's charging, the other knights had been doing their best to hold off the monsters, but they were getting tired. They charged into the fight to end this quickly. Mina ran ahead of everyone and attack without another thought.

Her eyes fell on a bear like a monster, and she punched him, or at least she tried to, her punch was caught mid-t attack. Before she knew it the monster had spun her and flung her into the air. Mina twisted herself as she fell and landed with a dancer grace.

"Okay, that was weird," Mina muttered to herself.

She leaned back suddenly missing a blow from a lobster monster.

"Huh? Wait, do I know you?"

She barely dodged an attack from a Giraffe monster.

"Wait, are you Ludo's monsters?" Mina asked.

The monsters didn't respond, they gave her blank stares and continue to fight. To Mina's surprise, they were fighting well and with more power than she saw from them before, it was almost like she was fighting totally new monsters.

There was a crack when Mina looked to the side to see Sir Stabby slammed to the ground and hard.

Before she could react one of the monsters grabbed her head.

0000

Higgs was doing her best to be a proper tour guide. Most of the girls were reasonably interested in the art that the Diaz had sponsored. Jackie had always been a fan of history, so she liked getting a peek at the past of another culture. Sabrina was actually a fan of art, she wasn't much of a student but could appreciate their beauty. Brittney… well, Janna was pretty sure she was being she was just being a bit of an art snob to feel superior.

Janna and Star were both a bit lost with the art, they were walking around some of the stalls looking at some of the stuff.

"You think Marco is done yet?" Star asked Janna.

"Beats me." Janna bemoaned, she had hoped to get to spend some time with the Prince.

The two girls walked ahead of the other girls when they heard a groan.

"Oooh?" Curiosity and let's face it a lack of self-preservation moved the girls to check into a nearby alley.

"Hey, are you okay?" Star poked her head

They inched forwards to see a figure amongst some discarded garbage.

"Wait…" Janna leaned over. "I know you."

"Yeah, it's Buff Frog!" Star exclaimed.

And indeed, bruise and dazed amongst the trash was the monster they knew as Buff Frog.

"Hello?"

* * *

A **uthor's Notes: Sorry for the long delay. I had started to write this arc back in Christmas hoping to get out for the holiday. Then I didn't like how it was turning out and how ti connected to the rest of the arcs. So I had to re-write it from the top down. Then the holidays came and I didn't have time and then other stuff happened. Anyway, here is the start of this arc. We are almost done with season one of this story only a few arcs are left. Sorry that it feel like there is a lot of exposition and set up. So please leave a review and let me know what you guys think.**


	19. Chapter 19:Myths and Monsters

**Marco Vs. The Forces of Darkness**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Star vs. the forces of evil.**

* * *

Chapter 19: Myths and Monsters

Star and Janna walked closer to what seemed to be a very confused Buff Frog.

Star got ready to lay a smack on him but paused he seemed really out of it.

"Hey," Star started, "are you okay?"

Buff Frog looked at the girls, "Scary girl and …" He looked at Star, "the crazy one?"

"Hey Buff Frog," Star waved at him.

"What am I doing here? Where is here?" Buff Frog looked around, taking a piece of garbage off his head.

"Yeah, what are you doing here? This is the Diaz Kingdom, during the Axolotlmas festival."

"Is it Axolotlmas already?" Buff Frog shook his head, "That can't be right." He held his head, "The last thing I remember was arguing to Ludo… his plan … was foolish… dangerous…" He groaned, unable to remember anything else. "He was yelling; I was leaving the castle…."

"So, he canned you?" Janna surmised, "Well, it happens to the best of us, decided to unwind a little and get a little carried away, huh? Well, I don't touch the stuff, my body is a dark temple, but I can't blame you if you want to indulge after a rough day."

"Is that what I did?" Buff Frog couldn't stop his head from feeling fuzzy.

0000

The other girls were looking over the portraits that were out for display.

Brittney didn't get art; she found herself staring at a portrait of A black cat chasing after a rainbow-colored flying snake, she had no clue what that was supposed to represent. She quickly gave up on that one and moved onto the next; it was some pink salamander bathing in the sunlight. Brittney again had no clue what that could represent, maybe a folk tale or something; she kept seeing that creature in decorations and stuff all over.

She finally found one she thought she understood; it was a group portrait of that redhead demon that took Marco once, the goat-man that saved him, the big skull guy, the crystal guy who Marco called an uncle, the annoying blue bookman, and a Giraffe Man Brittney had never seen before. Brittney didn't much care about art but wanted to have a chance to soak up the culture, and so she could talk to Marco about it easier.

"I'm shocked to see how many mesoamerican iconography match up with the art here," Brittney overheard Jackie talking, "Like, look here." Jackie pointed to a portrait with a red serpent with bright blue feathery wings, "Like, these sort of feather servants seem straight out of mesoamerican art."

The dragon-like creature coiled itself around a huge mound of treasure and artifacts and weapons.

"I see it," Sabrina added, "but it seems to have a bit European folklore in it too. I mean, European dragons are known to be the ones that horde treasures. Makes me wonder are these some sort of universal concepts, ideas that cross over cultures and dimensions."

"Or there are just a lot of dragons out there." Jackie said softly, "I mean, I didn't think dragons were real until I saw Marco ride one."

"Hm, maybe that where we get the idea for dragons," Sabrina suggested

"Yeah," Jackie agreed, "culture all over separated by years and distance seem to have the idea of dragons. Maybe some were coming to visit."

Brittney glared as these two girls shared an insightful conversation she couldn't slide into.

Brittney paused as another portrait caught her eye. This one had Mina wearing tattered armor holding up a flag on a hill with several huge warriors in armor stood behind her cheering.

Brittney read the card next to the portrait, "Lady Mina Loveberry leading the Solarian Knights to victory at the Battle for Mewni Castle. Commissioned at the 100th anniversary of the battle."

Higgs merely looked around, "Wasn't there another two girls?" She patted the sword on her side.

0000

"What's up with these guys?" Mina let out as she was flipped, "You guys aren't usually this strong? Or brave? Heck, whenever I show up you usually just all run off like you've seen the Stump."

The Monsters looked ready to charge again.

Mina sighed, "You know, I really only hold back with your guys because my prince tells me to. If you're not giving me a choice, then I won't hold back."

The monsters looked at her with looks more befitting coming from the savage beast.

Mina muscled up and got ready to fight for real.

0000

"Hm, I suppose we should recall them. The needed pieces are already in place; there is no use in losing pawns that might be useful."

Someone behind the speaker nodded and with a faint glow carried out a command.

0000

The monsters collapsed before Mina.

"Okay, so well, yeah, do that." Mina looked at now collapsed monsters.

It took a moment before they started to get up, and they all looked around, confused. Then they spotted Mina.

"Mina Loveberry! Run!"

The monster's fled as fast as they could.

Some of the knights ran up to Mina, "Great work Mina! You managed to drive them away. Let's give chase!"

Mina morphed back and held out a hand to stop them, "No, let them go, call it mercy for Axolotlmas. We're supposed to be nice today. Besides, we should tend to our wounded."

Something was wrong; something was wrong. Mina could tell that much.

0000

"Gaaaah!" Pony Head yelled out. "I'm so done with this! Let this be over!"

Tom shook his head, "This is the last thing," Tom filed the last paper away.

Marco rubbed his face, "Thank you for all the help. I guess I should get ready; the ceremony is going to be starting soon."

"Yeah, yeah," Tom waved him off, "you do that. We'll see you down there."

Marco said his goodbyes and headed off to get ready.

Tom smirked, "Hey Pony Head mind helping me out with something."

"Ugh, Tom," Pony Head lamented, "I've helped enough for one day."

"It will be fun,"

Pony Head raised an eyebrow interested by Tom's tone, "Okay, you have perked my curiosity you can keep going."

"Wanna play matchmaker with Marco?"

"Okay, that could be fun. What's the plan? You wanna set him up with one of the girls that tag along with him, cause I'm like sure like one of them is just a gold digger and one might kill him. Not sure which one is which though."

"No, I wasn't thinking about them."

"Mina? I know he's had a celebrity crush on her and she's his knight and sword teacher, so it's got a good mix of hot for teacher and forbidden love between stations and stuff. A bit pulpy, like, a romance novel, a knight and her prince. I mean, if we do that I get the right to make that into a novel and all movie rights."

"…No." Tom was a little tempted to let Pony Head go and see where she would end up.

"Then, who?!"

"Oh, maybe Hekapoo or the Pixie Empress."

"What?"

"You know about the stuff about him going on Hekapoo's trial?"

"Yeah, Star gave me all the details."

"Maybe not all of them,"

"Oh, ~ Dish!"

Tom scooted closer, "Well, not saying a lot, but maybe he and Hekapoo got a whole lot closer than you'd think."

"Really? Like, really? Like, give me some details."

"No, Bro Code, what Marco told me stays confidential."

"You're no fun,"

"But maybe something could happen between them, like something real."

"Again forbidden love, I like it. Plus, I always had the feeling he had a thing for redheads."

"And he told me about his date with Pixie Empress; she's letting him call her Sugar."

"Oooh! Royal affair."

"Apparently their date went really well like I talked to him right after and he had this different energy to him. They've been talking, and everything and they've gotten along."

"Okay, so what do you have in mind?"

"We invite Pixie Empress on Marco's behalf and call in the MHC, say the Diazes want the whole group there. Give Hekapoo and Marco a chance at talking, seeing if anything happens."

"Or start a catfight between Pixie Empress and Hekapoo."

"I'm sure that's not-"

"I'm so in!"

0000

Janna and Star looked at Buff Frog, and well, they were concerned, sure he was sort of enemy, but he wasn't a threat, and in this state, they felt sorry for him. He looked lost and confused and scared.

"And you don't remember anything?" Star asked.

"No, just that I was leaving and nothing." Buff Frog held his head.

"Maybe Marco can help. Do a little voodoo he do?" Janna suggested.

"The Prince?" Buff Frog said unsure, "Are you serious?"

"Hey, blonde girl! Hat girl!" Higgs's voice called out as she turned into the alley, her eyes went wide.

She leaped at Buff Frog drawing her sword mid-air and ready to strike.

"No! No!" Janna and Star jumped in front of him trying to wave Higgs off.

The young squire just barely avoided slicing them up.

Janna took a deep breath realizing how close the sword had gotten to her.

Higgs looked on, confused. "What?"

"You were just about to attack this guy." Janna started talking not sure where she was going.

"This monster?"

Janna blinked as she watched two kids in costumes passing the alley.

"Guy in a monster costume." Janna quickly came up with, "This guy is the winner of the costume contest. Best monster costume and he gets to meet the prince."

Higgs blinked as she took a step closer, "Huh, that's a really great costume. I really thought you were a real monster."

Higgs sheath her sword and glanced at Buff Frog.

"Ah, yes, thank you." Buff Frog said unsure how to continue.

"I don't remember hearing anything about a costume contest." Higgs just shrugged, "But there is so much happening who can keep track of it all." The young squire gave him a hearty slap on his back, "What's your name anyway?"

"Yvgeny Bulgolyubov"

"Yeah, Yvgeny here just was asking for help." Janna added, "He knows we are friends with Marco, so he was just asking if we knew where he was cause someone dropped the ball on his prize. Like no one told him when or where he was supposed to meet Marco. This kind of oversight is really the kind of thing that can ruin a special day."

Higgs scratched her chin, "I guess, hm, Prince Marco should probably be done with stuff. We could probably see him now."

Star catching on snapped into action, "That's a great idea! Let's go see Marco."

Buff Frog forced a wide grin seeing no way out of this. He tried not to tremble knowing if he said the wrong thing he might not make it out of this place.

0000

Tom bowed before the Pixie Empress, well as much as one royal would bow to another. The Empress sat on her throne as she looked at the young demon.

"Prince Lucitor," Pixie Empress began, "what brings you before me today?"

"I come on behalf of Prince Marco Diaz."

The Pixie blinked, "Marky?"

"Marky?"

"I meant, Prince Marco, why are you here?"

Tom cleared his throat to settle himself, "Prince Marco asked me to come in person, to invite you for Mewni's Axolotlmas celebrations."

The Empress looked at her nails, "How strange? I speak to Prince Marco often; he didn't mention anything about inviting me."

"Well, yes, Prince Marco has been so overwhelmed by preparations he couldn't properly send an invitation until the last moment. He did think of just calling you and telling you, but he felt the personal touch was needed. Since he couldn't come, he sent me -his best friend- to invite you on his behalf."

Pixie studied him curiously; she played with the end of her hair, "It's a little disappointing that Marco waited so long to send this invitation, but I supposed I could clear my schedule."

Tom grinned, "I'm sure he'd be delighted to see you."

Tom was happy as his plan was going well, now all he had to do is let Pony Head do his part.

0000

Pony Head opened up a portal into Hekapoo dimension using a pair of scissors she borrowed from her dad. Pony head wasn't going to risk anything with stolen scissors, not around Hekapoo anyway.

Pony Head flew out of the portal and towards Hekapoo's doors. She took a moment to prepare herself; she knew Hekapoo had a temper and had to do this right.

CRACK!

Pony Head rushed the doors, pushing them open. "Hey-"

Pony Head was hit with loud music blaring from every corner of the forge.

"'Till Mars is aligned with Mars

And for our pleasure, we'll keep you waiting

Who knows just how long you'll serve

But baby, you bet

You're going to get

The punishment we deserve~."

Pony head Blinked as she found Hekapoo singing into a pair of scissors, to all things disco music. Hekapoo was just there dancing around to the music still haven't even noticing the Princess.

"Off with his shirt

That's the deal

You're a beef-cake happy meal

Go on you guys

Just feast your eyes

Off with his shirt

'Till the dawn

Dig that lush pectoral lawn

Drink in those lats and traps and delts

And after that, who knows what else?

So save some room boys for dessert~."

Hekapoo swirled around, and her face just froze in horror as she finally realized she wasn't alone. Hekapoo pulled out a control from her skirt and turned off the music.

"…Princess Pony Head what are you doing here?"

Pony Head was smiling; the only thing wrong with this moment was that she didn't think of pulling out her mirror to record it. Though maybe that was a good thing, Hekapoo would have probably killed her without a second thought if she had done that.

Suppressing a chuckle "Oh, yeah, I'm coming from Marco. You know Axolotlmas is going and well, he wanted me to invite you and the rest of Magical High Commission to the big thing tonight."

"The rest of the Commission?"

"Yeah, he said to tell you to bring all of them."

"You sure?"

"Yeah, absolutely."

"Fine, I guess I'll be good to see Marco."

"Oh, I'm sure it will be." Pony Head couldn't wait to see how this would all turn out.

0000

Buff Frog was surprisingly happy Higgs got him corn on a stick as a small way to say she was sorry for nearly cutting open and for the inconvenience for not getting his meeting. People were being friendly to him and complimenting his costume.

While some kids were looking at Buff Frog and taking a picture with him, Star and Janna explained the situation.

Jackie blinked, she glanced over to Higgs who was serving as crowd control for the line. "Ah, yeah, are you sure this is a good idea? This guy is apart of the group that constantly tries to attack Marco and steal his wand."

"Why don't we just tell her?!" Brittney told them, "they can lock him up or whatever."

Star argued back, "He's lost and confused, and this is a day where you're supposed to be nice and everything. I just figured it would be what Marco would do."

"It does sound like something Marco would do." Sabrina agreed with Star.

"Ugh," Brittney groaned, "Fine! Spirit of the holiday we take him to Marco. He decides to help him, lock him up or whatever!"

After a few more pictures, they continued on their little trip back to the castle. There was a massive group of people outside hoping to catch a glimpse of the royal family. Higgs got them past the guards and into the castle.

They found Manfred who went to call Marco down.

Not too long after he left Mina and the other knights came in through the front doors. They were dragging some of the other knights.

Mina spotted Higgs, "Uh, hey, kid uh, we need to talk."

Higgs was a little surprised by the kingdoms greatest knight calling her over to talk. Mina leads her into another room to talk alone.

"Okay, maybe we should figure out what to say to Marco." Jackie suggested, "it might be a little bit much for him to find one of the monsters that regularly tries to steal his wand in the castle."

"Okay," Star rubbed her chin, "yeah, that might be true."

"Hey guys," Marco came down the hall.

As he started down the stairs when he paused as he saw Buff Frog. Marco jumped down the stairs getting between the girls and Buff Frog and raising his wand, which started to glow.

"WHOA! WHOA!" Star and Janna waved their hands in front of Marco to stop him.

"Yeah, not here for fighting!" Janna pushed down the wand. "He needs some help."

Marco looked on a tad, confused, but he lowered his wand.

"I'm sorry," Marco said in a defeated tone," I really shouldn't have gone right to attack you today of all days."

"Because you're supposed to be nice?" Star wagered sensing something off about Marco's voice.

"Well, that is an aspect of it," Marco let out a sigh, "there is also another thing. This holiday season is particularly notable for monsters." Marco cringed at his words.

Buff Frog nodded, "It is true. This holiday is the day for Mewmans to be their best, but it is also the anniversary of the dark times. When the Mewman settlers arrived great battles, and great defeats came for the monsters. Monsters were pushed deep into the forest, and we lost much of land."

Marco confirmed it with a small nod, his family's part in it wasn't something he was proud of.

Though for the most part, hostilities with monsters were pretty high some of the younger people of Mewni did start to understand the severity of it.

Marco ran his finger through his hair, "It's just- it's hard to explain- I know that I didn't do it, I know my parents or grandparents didn't do anything, but my family did push the monsters from their homes. We've benefited from it. We caused Axolotl knows how much pain and suffering over generations. And well, today is the anniversary of when it started. It's hard to explain it's not like you guys celebrate what that start to the downfall for another people."

The girls all froze looking at each other with an awkward expression on their faces.

Star did try to say something, but Janna just shook her head, "Yeah, don't-not right now."

With a heavy sigh, Marco looked at Buff Frog, "If you're not here to try to steal my wand, and you really need my help, I would be happy to help you."

"Thank you," Buff Frog said softly, he appreciated it that Marco was being sincere about his apology knowing that it meant more than just their current situation.

Buff Frog explained the situation to him quickly.

"Huh?" Was Marco's reaction, "How? Confusion, memory loss, and everything sound like the side effects of a spell that affects the mind, but Ludo can't do magic."

Marco thought about it, that was very worrisome if Ludo found some way to use magic and he used it on his own monsters it would spell out trouble.

"Marco!" Angie's voice broke the young prince out of his thought.

The Queen rushed over to her son, "Marco, we need to hurry its time for the opening ceremony."

"Already?!"

"Yes, and your guests are already waiting. Why didn't you tell me you invited so many people?" Angie then looked over the girls and then her eyes fell on Buff Frog.

"Uh," Janna cleared her throat. "That's Yvgeny Bulgolyubov he's the winner of the monster costume contest. Remember? He gets to get to come along and be backstage with Marco for everything."

Angie blinked before she smiled, "Nice to meet, my that outfit looks very realistic."

"Your Majesties are things going to get started?" Rhombulus came in.

Following behind Rhombulus were the rest of the commission, including a Giraffe man that they hadn't seen in person before.

The giraffe man smiled as he waved his hands broadly, "It is such a pleasure to see you and to receive your invitation."

Angie strained a smile, "Yes, well, it's always a pleasure to have you, Reynaldo."

Following close behind were Hekapoo and the Pixie Empress, and they were talking.

"So, you're Hekapoo?" Pixie Empress had a strange smile on her face. "Marky has told me so much about you."

"Marky?" Hekapoo scoffed, "You sound awfully close to him."

"I suppose we have gotten quite close."

Hekapoo just smirked, "Really, that's nice. I've been quite close to him for a while. Not to brag but I've gotten a lot closer than you."

Marco wasn't sure why, but he very scared about them talking.

Behind them, Tom cringed as Pony Head looked on in delight.

Angie got the group on focus, "We have to." She turned to Marco, "Your father is with your grandmother, and we should keep her waiting."

"Abuelita?" Marco light up, hearing his grandmother was waiting for them.

Marco was a little uneasy about having a monster close by with so many people who might not understand, but he was sure things would go well. He felt terrible about lying to his own mother on today of all days, but it was for a good reason so it should be okay.

0000

In a forgotten location right outside of the forest at the base off a cliff, the ground shook, and out a long gnarled burnt root jolted out and screeched.

* * *

 **Author's Note: Okay,** there **is your update. I'm working on this story just very slowly. Okay, to reply to some people I know my grammar is bad I'M TRYING but it's by far the worst thing of my writing and my hardest one to overcome. If someone** want **to help out by being my beta let me know. If you guys keeping messaging me about how bad my grammar is or why** its **taking me so long to update** its **going to just slow me down. I do take constructive criticism but people come on people don't** over do **it. Pestering me is not going to make me want to work on this story.**

 **Anyway I've been busy with a lot of stories I'm writing plus I'm trying to write my own book so please understand.**

 **Leave a review telling me what you guys think and so on.**


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